The Rinnegan Maelstrom

Chapter One: Blood and Tears

"NARUTO!"

As the blond staggered back from the Uchiha heir and tried to spit out the taste of his fellow future-genin's mouth, he felt numerous killing intents focussing on him and just had time to realize what was about to happen when a fist slammed into the side of his head and sent him careening into the wall.

As Naruto shakily attempted to rise, he heard running feet and then multiple fists and feet hitting his body from multiple different directions. Unable to defend himself; all he could do was curl into a ball and wait for it to end.

It didn't. The beating went on… and on… and on. After the fifth foot smashed against his jaw and Naruto felt several of his teeth jar loose, he lapsed into brief unconsciousness at the pain.

The members of the Sasuke fan club surrounding Naruto first realized something was wrong when a reddish glow started to emanate from the boy. When Naruto caught Sakura Haruno's foot and twisted, dislocating her ankle with a painful clunk and resulting in a scream from the pink-haired girl in question, the girls leapt away and watched as the boy straightened up, bloodied and bruised. They all simultaneously gulped as they saw that the boy's whisker birthmarks were thicker than usual and his eyes were no longer their usual cerulean blue; they were now red and had slit pupils.

Naruto then spoke; in a layered, growling voice that drew all the graduating kids' attentions as he raised a hand and pointed it at the girls, who cowered slightly, though for what reason they did not know, "Remember, all of you. You were the ones who drove me to do this!" He brought his hands together in a series of seals unfamiliar to all of them, "You were the ones who drove me to take control of my vessel, and now you will pay the price! Rinnegan: Activate!"

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before he reopened them and everybody surrounding him cowered as one. Naruto's eyes had changed; they now each had three concentric circles moving outwards from his pupils on top of the standard cerulean colour. A fourth was just visible in the corners of his eyes as he raised his hand and aimed his palm at the girls, "Get over the damn Uchiha, he's just a kid. A kid whose bloodline hasn't even activated yet. You're all a disgrace to shinobi. Now… Shinra Tensei!"

All the girls were flung straight off their feet and into the opposite wall, some even crashing through the thin panelling to come to rest in the hallway. Naruto slowly lowered his hand and intoned, "And let that be a lesson to you. Next time I will not be so lenient."

He sat back down; ignoring the gaping looks he was getting from the rest of the room as Iruka walked in and asked why some of the girls in the class were lying in the corridor outside and groaning with pain.

-TRM-

"Naruto, would you care to explain why you threw a number of your classmates through a wall, and how?" asked Sarutobi two hours later.

Naruto, who was seated opposite him, shrugged, "I don't know. They started beating on me for something that was a total accident and then I can't remember anything until I woke up in here. I think he took over."

Sarutobi nodded quietly to himself before addressing the man standing in the corner behind him, "I take it you recognize this dōjutsu, Jiraiya-kun?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yes. I've seen it before. It's known as the Rinnegan, it's a dōjutsu that hasn't been seen by anybody except me since the Rikudō Sennin died. I saw it in a kid back during the war. These three kids came to us asking to be taught ninjutsu so that they could defend themselves. I took them on, and one day they got attacked. One of the kids managed to activate the Rinnegan and kill the attacker. His name was Nagato. Last I heard; he and his friends were all dead."

Sarutobi nodded, "A shame. He might've been able to teach Naruto how to use this dōjutsu."

Naruto spoke up, "The Kyūbi says he did take me over after I passed out, and he was the one who threw those girls through the wall with something called the Shinra Tensei. He also says he can teach me how to use this, something about all dōjutsu originally coming from him, even the Byakugan and Sharingan. There is apparently another one called the Benigan, but he doesn't know if anybody still exists who has that bloodline."

-TRM-

Many miles away, a small boy in a pod sneezed.

"Are you alright, Ranmaru?" said a slightly concerned voice from outside the pod.

"Yes, Raiga-sama. I am fine…" replied Ranmaru, but he was inwardly wondering who was talking about him.

-TRM-

"Very well," said Sarutobi, "But are you sure you can trust the Kyūbi, Naruto?"

Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment he seemed to shudder and then his whiskers visibly thickened. His Rinnegan disappeared, his pupils reformed into vertical slits and his irises went scarlet. A second later he said, "What do you take me for? A demon's word is his bond, particularly a bijuu like me!"

Both Sarutobi and Jiraiya were briefly taken aback by the fact that they were suddenly conversing with the most feared bijuu of them all. Steeling himself, Sarutobi said, "You did attack Konoha, so forgive me if I don't immediately believe everything you say."

Kyūbi-Naruto scowled, exposing sharp teeth, "That's what you thought happened? I attacked of my own free will?"

At Sarutobi's nod he snorted, "Not likely. I was happy sealed in my last container. She was a most interesting conversationalist. But then that insolent whelp they called the progenitor of the Uchiha clan ripped me out of my nice, cozy, comfortable seal and used me like an attack dog with that thrice-damned pink-eye of his."

Sarutobi had been wondering how much more insane things were going to get. He got his answer, but didn't much like it, "Progenitor of the Uchiha clan? You mean Madara Uchiha? Impossible, he's been dead since before the Nidaime took his seat!"

Kyūbi-Naruto scowled, "That's what you think. He's very much alive, in reality. If I understand correctly, and I only say that because that night is all a little hazy even now, the Yondaime figured out that I was being controlled by Madara and realized that the only way to stop my rampage was to seal me. So he did, inside this little meat bag." He thumped his fist against Naruto's chest.

Jiraiya frowned, "So you don't want to get out of the seal after all?"

Kyūbi-Naruto scowled, "Now I remember what I liked about the Yondaime's wife when I was sealed inside her. She didn't ask me stupid questions all the time; she just worked with me to make things better. No, I don't want out. I want to stay in here. If this brat is anything like my last jinchūriki, which I'm fairly sure he is considering the amount of times he's ever looked in a mirror, he's going to be a fun guy to have around when he grows up, particularly with this!" He raised a clawed finger and pointed at his eyes, before he lowered it again and a hint of thoughtful contemplation entered his expression, "Maybe if I'd given her this dōjutsu last time, things wouldn't have ended up going the way they did. I liked the Yondaime and his wife, they always respected me. The Yondaime was a killer shogi player; I always enjoyed playing with him when his wife allowed me control of her body so I could breathe free air for a while."

Sarutobi leaned forwards, his businesslike expression back in place, "You said you were going to teach Naruto how to use the Rinnegan. What does that entail?"

Kyūbi-Naruto smirked, tapping a claw against his chin in thought for a moment before he said, "The Rinnegan allows the user to master all five elements, as well as to use the special techniques unique to the Six Paths, but since it would take me hours to tell you all of them, I will simply tell you in detail of the first Path and give you a rough summary of the rest later on."

He leaned back in his chair, "The Deva Path gives the user the ability to manipulate gravity to repel or attract objects. This is the technique I used on the girls earlier; it's called the Shinra Tensei, or Almighty Push. There are another two techniques in the Deva arsenal, the Banshō Ten'in, or Universal Pull, which attracts objects. The other technique is the Chibaku Tensei, or Planetary Devastation, which creates a small ball of black energy which then flies high into the air. The ball then creates a gravitational field which pulls objects up from the ground below until it resembles a huge ball. That jutsu is what the Rikudō Sennin used to get rid of the Jūbi's body centuries ago, after he'd sealed its mind and chakra inside himself."

"He did what?"

Kyūbi-Naruto smiled a mysterious smile before walking to the window and pointing up at the sky. Even though it was late spring, the moon was clearly visible above them as a pale disc. "There it is. The Jūbi's body."

Sarutobi and Jiraiya leaned over. Jiraiya was the one to voice their confusion, "That's the moon, Kyūbi."

Kyūbi-Naruto turned back towards them and quirked an eyebrow, "The Rikudō Sennin was regarded as the most powerful shinobi who ever lived. Are you denying that he could do a Chibaku Tensei powerful enough to rip huge enough chunks from the ground to form the Moon?"

The two men gave him a stupid look for a long moment before nodding in understanding. Kyūbi-Naruto snorted, "You don't understand. You can't understand; the magnitude of such a technique is too great for your human minds to comprehend."

He stretched slightly, a cracking noise issuing from his spine before he looked back at them and said, "I can tell you still don't quite trust me, but I stand by what I said earlier. A demon's word is his bond, and that is especially true of the bijuu, the overlords of the demon realm. I will train Naruto in the use of his Rinnegan and in the use of my chakra. If he can perfect his usage of both, I believe he may even be able to surpass your Yondaime and the Rikudō Sennin."

Sarutobi's jaw couldn't help but drop; that was high praise, particularly when it was coming from the most powerful bijuu. "Two more questions before I depart back behind my seal and have a nap," continued Kyūbi-Naruto, "Who is Naruto's jōnin-sensei to be, and might I be permitted to tell Naruto of his parents? I think that jutsu that his father created might be especially useful in conjunction with the Rinnegan's powers, actually both of them would be useful."

Sarutobi thought it over and then said, "Jiraiya-kun can teach him the lesser jutsu, but I would prefer to wait before he learns the other. Maybe after he reaches chūnin. As for his parents, maybe. Let's see how he functions normally first."

Kyūbi-Naruto nodded, "Very well, and his jōnin-sensei?"

"Kakashi Hatake. Their meeting was postponed since Naruto was here, he will need to meet them tomorrow at midday. Kakashi said he wanted them on top of the Hokage Monument for their introductions."

Kyūbi-Naruto nodded again before he closed his eyes, "Fine. I will stay behind my seal until after their introductions, and then I will begin Naruto's training in the use of his Rinnegan."

Naruto's whiskers returned to their normal thickness, his claws turned back into fingernails and when he opened his eyes, they were again cerulean and adorned with concentric circles. "What did he say?"

Sarutobi wet his lips with the tip of his tongue, thinking for a long moment, before he said, "Your new sensei will be Kakashi Hatake, he wants to see you on top of the Hokage Monument at midday tomorrow. Now go home and sleep. You just awakened a kekkei genkai, that's going to… take it… out of you." He trailed off as Naruto suddenly collapsed to the floor, snoring.

"Jiraiya, carry him home would you? I have paperwork to do."

Jiraiya nodded, picking up his godson and climbing out of the window. Before he leapt off the roof outside, however, he turned back to Sarutobi, "Sensei, do you think what the Kyūbi said is true? Do you think Naruto is capable of that jutsu?"

Sarutobi turned to face his student, "He's his father's son and Minato's blood runs true in him. If anybody can achieve full use of the Hiraishin and complete the Rasengan, it's Naruto."

Jiraiya nodded, turning away and leaping off the roof, and leaving Sarutobi to his thoughts.

-TRM-

Naruto woke up the next morning to find himself lying in bed at home. Glancing at the alarm clock next to him, he got up and changed into some clean clothes, before quickly grabbing something to eat and leaving the flat, heading for the Hokage Monument.

Kakashi Hatake arrived at four o'clock to find his three new genin sitting in the grass. Or more accurately, a boy brooding on the edge of the Monument, the single girl simpering quietly over the brooder, and the third member of the group lying in the grass with his eyes closed, evidently having a quiet nap.

Kakashi coughed, drawing the attention of the pair on the edge of the Monument. "YOU'RE LATE!" screeched the girl, causing Kakashi to wince at the pitch of her voice. The black-haired boy she had been fawning over simply uttered a soft "huh" and went back to staring out over the village.

Kakashi sighed and said, "Come here you two. Let's get this over with. Hey kid," he addressed the snoozing boy, "Wake up."

The boy didn't react. The pink-haired girl stormed over to him and lifted up her foot over his crotch. It was only now that Kakashi noticed the girl was wearing a neck brace (how she could even turn her head was a mystery to him) and one of her arms was bound up in a sling. "WAKE UP, BAKA!"

The girl made to stomp hard on the boy's crotch, but at the last second his hand shot up and caught her foot, "Want me to break your ankle to go along with your neck and arm, Haruno?" His eyes opened, and Kakashi noticed that each contained three concentric circles radiating out from the pupil.

The girl jerked her foot out of his grip with an expression that suggested she loathed the boy with every fibre of her being and stalked over to sit under a tree.

"Fine," said Kakashi, running a hand through his hair and pointing at the black-haired boy, "You first, sulky. Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, etc."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I dislike a lot of things, but it's not like it matters, seeing as there is almost nothing I like. It seems pointless to talk about dreams, it's just a word. But what I do have is determination. I will restore my clan, and there is somebody I have sworn to kill."

Kakashi sighed; he had an avenger. Turning to the pink-haired girl, he pointed at her and said, "Pinky with the bandaged arm,"

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…" she glanced at Sasuke and giggled to herself before continuing, "My dreams for the future are…" she stopped, looked at Sasuke, giggled and got a nosebleed, "And I dislike Naruto-baka!"

She threw him a vindictive sideways look as though hoping he'd be offended, but was obviously disappointed when the boy who seemed to have gone back to sleep opened one lazy eye and said, "Ooh, my heart bleeds, Sakura-chan," somehow managing to make the honorific sound extremely offensive, "I'm utterly devastated that you don't like me, which I think you proved when you attacked me yesterday for something that was a complete accident. I have to thank you and the other girls though; if you hadn't attacked me like that I wouldn't have unlocked my kekkei genkai."

Kakashi palmed his face, now he had a perverted fangirl and she hated the other student. This team was already doomed. The blond was interesting though…

Kakashi pointed at him, "You, blondie, talk."

Naruto cracked open his other eye and looked up at Kakashi with both eyes, a vaguely disinterested expression on his face, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are training, learning new jutsu and figuring out how to use this new dōjutsu. My dislikes include the teme there, the forehead over there, and people who try to either assault me for no reason," he said as he blocked a furious kick at his head from Sakura with his elbow, prompting a crunching noise from her ankle and a whimper of pain from the girl herself, "and think they're better than me because I keep a big evil monster from using them as toothpicks."

"Interesting, it seems he knows about the Kyūbi… I need to talk to the Hokage about this new dōjutsu."

"Right then, I want to see all three of you on Training Ground #7 tomorrow morning at six a.m., alright? I need to go ask the Hokage a few questions. I suggest you don't eat any breakfast or you'll throw up."

Naruto nodded and left. As soon as he got home, he cooked some instant ramen, read a book for about half an hour and then lay down to sleep.

-TRM-

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself standing before a large cage. Looking around to try and figure out his bearings (and wondering if the villagers had snuck into his apartment and locked him in the sewers again), Naruto decided to look for a keyhole and stuck his head between the bars to search. So engrossed in said search was he that he did not immediately register the very large set of sharp teeth moving towards his head until a warm breeze touched the back of his neck.

Looking up, he was just in time to yank his head back to safety before the huge jaws descended, clashing together with a noise like two portcullises hitting each other. "What the hell?"

Two huge burning red eyes appeared above the set of fangs, looking down on Naruto with an oddly pleased expression, "You've got good reflexes, kid."

Naruto stared up at the giant fangs and eyes in puzzlement, "Who are you and what are you doing in the Konoha sewers?"

The eyes looked down at him curiously, "The Konoha sewers? This is your mindscape, moron."

"It is? Oh. That explains a lot."

"Anyway, you're here because I want to show you something. You know your shadow clones?"

"Yes…"

"Well, something you probably won't know is that your shadow clones send their memories back to you when they dispel. For example, if you were to send a clone to eat some ramen at that little shack you frequent, and then it dispelled from something a few seconds after eating, you would not only remember eating the ramen, but you would know what the clone ate and how it dispelled."

Naruto looked stunned, "How do you know this?"

The Kyūbi smiled, if exposing even more teeth to Naruto's sight counted as smiling, "My last jinchūriki used shadow clones extensively like you did the other night. I must've picked up more little pieces of trivia about that technique than any other. Anyway, another interesting titbit about the Shadow Clone Jutsu is that you can also use them for other purposes. Namely, you can actually use them to sleep for you."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now, I want you to wake up again, and create exactly eleven clones. Ten will sleep in the apartment and I will take over the other one. Begone!"

With that last word ringing in his ears, Naruto was flung from his mindscape, opening his eyes again to find himself lying in bed.

Rolling out of bed, he formed the seal for Shadow Clone Jutsu and watched eleven identical copies appear. Ten immediately lay down to sleep, while the eleventh suddenly developed sharper fingernails and teeth, slit pupils and red irises and thicker whisker marks.

"Come," the Kyūbi-clone growled, before walking to the window and opening it.

Naruto followed.

-TRM-

Yūgao Uzuki was bored. She had had the misfortune to draw the short straw for night patrol, meaning that she was stuck standing on a cold rooftop overlooking Konoha's main street, almost directly opposite the Yamanaka flower shop.

With a sigh of longing at the thought of her nice, warm bed back at home, Yūgao stretched and resisted the urge to remove her cat mask for a few minutes to give her face some air. It was against the ANBU code to remove your mask for any reason. If the worst came to the worst, you were to die with your mask on and hopefully incinerate your body with your last breath if in enemy territory.

She suddenly noticed two small figures creeping through the shadows, and immediately signalled another ANBU to watch her back as she moved to intercept.

Naruto and the Kyūbi-clone were slipping along the street when an ANBU suddenly appeared in front of them, her katana in her hand. Naruto jumped, "Hello, ANBU-san!"

The ANBU scrutinized Naruto for a long moment through her mask before saying, "Naruto Uzumaki. Where might you be going so late at night?"

Naruto swallowed, "To train."

"This late?"

"It's kinda important. I just unlocked my kekkei genkai and I need to learn a few attacks before Kakashi starts on us tomorrow."

Yūgao tilted her head to one side. She remembered the stories surrounding Kakashi Hatake's bell test, and knew that this boy would need all the help he could get if he were going to pass.

"Alright," she finally said, "I will escort you to a training field. What about your friend there?"

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's a clone and mostly harmless."

The clone in question growled, "Mostly harmless? I'll give you mostly harmless, brat."

"Shut up, clone."

Yūgao chuckled at the exchange of insults between the clone and his creator before she finally cleared her throat, "Ok, shall we go?"

Naruto finally scowled at the clone one last time before dispelling it and said, "I need to go to Training Ground #7. Kakashi told me to turn up there tomorrow morning."

Yūgao nodded and sheathed her katana, "Word of warning, kid. Kakashi Hatake has never passed a genin team for one reason and one reason only; they never worked as a team. You're going to need to persuade your team-mates to work with you if you want to pass."

Naruto snorted as they walked off down the street, "Fat chance of that happening. One thinks he's better than me because he's the Uchiha, and the other is an Uchiha fangirl who hates my guts because I threw her through a wall in self-defence and busted her arm up."

Yūgao stared at him for a long moment before she suddenly laughed and ruffled his hair, "I see what you mean. Then I would recommend you get used to using all those clones of yours. With luck, Kakashi might pass you just for your teamwork with your clones."

-TRM-

The ANBU left Naruto at the training field and headed back the way she had come, saying she needed to return to her post before anyone realized she was gone other than the ANBU she had asked to watch her back.

Naruto nodded, watching her disappear into the darkness before forming his favourite handseal. Oddly, the Rinnegan allowed him to see very well.

"Actually, that's me,"said Kyūbi's voice inside his head, "Being my jinchūriki has given you some of my traits, night vision being one of them. Now, create thirty clones."

Naruto nodded, channelling chakra through his fingers. A half-second later he buckled, his hands over his eyes. Seeing himself from thirty different angles hurt.

"Oh damn,"growled the Kyūbi, "I forgot that would happen. Concentrate, Naruto. You managed to fight down the memories of those three hundred clones the other night when you beat up the traitor, you can manage now!"

Naruto gritted his teeth and managed to concentrate through the multiple viewpoints he was suddenly receiving. A few seconds passed while sweat rolled down his head before he finally straightened up and nodded, "I'm good."

"Excellent. Now, split your clones up into groups of two, and have them spread out across the training field. Then one of each pair must hold up their arm so that their hand is palm-out to their partner, channelling chakra into their palm while saying either "Shinra Tensei" or "Banshō Ten'in"."

Naruto delivered instructions before manifesting another clone, which quickly developed a more feral appearance, "So what else?"

The Kyūbi-clone grinned, "I'm going to teach you another gravity jutsu for you to use, called the Chibaku Tensei. I must impress on you, Naruto, that you must not use this jutsu unless you are facing an exceptionally powerful opponent."

"Why?"

"Because this jutsu is what the Rikudō Sennin used to seal away the Jūbi's body after sealing its soul into himself. You see that?" He pointed up at the moon, "That is the Jūbi's body, sealed away for eternity. That is the effect of the Chibaku Tensei; it rips great chunks up from the ground and pulls them into the air, forming a large sphere."

"Really? Cool…"

"Are you drooling?"

Naruto wiped his chin, "No!"

"Uh huh, sure. Come on, let's get started!"

-TRM-

When Sakura walked onto Training Ground #7 the next morning, it took a few seconds for her brain to register the devastation that met her eyes. Areas of the training field seemed to have ripped out of the ground, tumbled around a bit and then dropped back into the craters, a couple of trees were toppled and Naruto Uzumaki stood in the very centre of the destruction surrounded by clones, each of them with their arms outstretched as they intoned the same two jutsu chants over and over again.

After watching them for a long moment she screeched, "BAKA! What have you done to the field?"

Naruto dispelled the clones and stayed completely still for a few seconds before reopening his eyes and saying, "Why? I think it's an improvement on how boringly flat it looked when I got here."

"And when did you get here?"

Naruto checked his watch, "About seven hours ago."

Sakura stared at him, "YOU BAKA! You've been here all night?"

Naruto's eyes flashed irritably, "Shut up, Sakura. If I want to train all night, I can. Got a problem with that?"

Sakura scowled, "You'll jeopardize Sasuke-kun's ninja career, you baka!"

Naruto snorted, "Oh, like I'm worried about ruining the teme's career. And if you even think about trying to hit me I'm going to fire you through a tree and bust up your one good arm too."

Sakura glared at him for a long moment before she snorted and sat down to await Kakashi.

Sasuke turned up fifteen minutes after Sakura, merely glancing around the area and grunting at the widespread destruction before sitting down against a tree and instantly going into his brooding.

Naruto looked between his team-mates for a long moment, then sat down and began practicing his focus for his new jutsu.

-TRM-

Kakashi was, once again, shocked when he arrived at the training ground. The devastation surrounding one Naruto Uzumaki was the first thing to register in his mind. Looking around he finally said, "Hello."

"YOU'RE LATE!" screeched Sakura, jumping up and wincing as she knocked her injured arm.

"I'm sorry. A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way around town until my luck had settled."

"LIAR!"

"Sakura…" sighed Naruto, noting to himself that he was emulating a certain pineapple-haired shadow-user as he ran a hand through his hair and stood up to walk over, "Cease your troublesome screaming."

-TRM-

Elsewhere in Konoha, Shikamaru suddenly got a feeling that somebody was ripping him off. Shaking his head to get rid of the troublesome feeling, he glanced back down at his shogi board in time to intercept Asuma's piece and mercilessly crush it with one of his own.

-TRM-

Kakashi smiled, "Alright then, your task is to try and get these bells," he held up two small bells, "off me through any means necessary. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you won't get the bells."

He glanced around at them with his single eye, "The test will now commence. Begin!"

-TRM-

Naruto was the first to move after Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke, "Guys, we need to…" but was interrupted by Sasuke.

"You two stay out of my way, I'm doing this alone."

Naruto tried again, "Seriously guys, the trick to this test…" but this time Sakura interrupted.

"What would you know, baka? Sasuke-kun is much smarter than you will ever be!"

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, "He hasn't even unlocked his kekkei genkai yet, whereas I have full use of my Rinnegan. He's already boned no matter what he does, and if you guys refuse to listen when I actually know what the secret to our victory is, then fuck it. I was actually training all night because I knew what the trick was, therefore I am going to go it alone because I already have a strategy worked out which I am fairly sure will work."

Sasuke snorted, "No matter what stupid strategy a dobe like you has come up with, it is nothing compared to the power of an Uchiha. I will finish this myself and you two can just go back to the Academy and let me receive the training I am due as an Uchiha in peace!"

Naruto snorted, "You know, I actually thought over my own strategy all night, and while the real point of this test is teamwork, I can see that neither of you is willing to work as a team. Therefore," he formed a band of clones, "I'll work as a team with myself, and you guys can just go sit under a tree and cry because that's about as much as you are going to contribute."

Before either could shout at him again, he turned and stalked off.

-TRM-

Kakashi was sitting under a tree reading his book when he heard someone shout, "Banshō Ten'in!" and leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the ripple of gravity that would have ripped the bells right off his belt.

"Is this one of Naruto's new techniques from his kekkei genkai? That was quick work on learning it!" Kakashi thought as he leapt back as around twenty clones exploded out of the trees, their dōjutsu blazing as they ran forwards, coordinating with frightening ease.

Kakashi quickly realized he had a problem as a voice behind him intoned, "Shinra Tensei!" and he was flung through the air by a ripple of gravity. As he landed and rolled to a stop he heard more clones shouting the same thing and immediately decided that maybe he'd bitten off a bit more than he could chew with this genin. Deciding on the spot it might be a better idea to get out of the area and find the other two before taking on this particular one a second time, Kakashi created a shadow clone and substituted with it, activating his shunshin to carry himself out of danger before three more gravity attacks thudded into the ground where he had been sitting.

-TRM-

Kakashi shook his head as he looked down at the Uchiha, who was glaring up at him from where he was buried up to his neck in the ground. He had been expecting so much more from the last scion of what had once been the village's most powerful clan.

The Haruno girl had been an utter disappointment as well. She had succumbed to an E-rank genjutsu with an ease that sickened Kakashi. He had read her file, noting that she was a fan girl to the Uchiha (ninja files tended to be to the point and brutally honest, at least in most cases); but now it appeared that was slightly incorrect. This girl had obviously done nothing at all in the Academy. She had excelled in theory work due to her intellect and her chakra control was incredible for her age, but Kakashi now knew (having run a quick scan on her chakra levels after she passed out from the genjutsu) that that was only because her chakra levels were barely higher than a civilian's. The girl was an utter disgrace to kunoichi, he thought with the barest hint of disgust, and she shouldn't even be in the shinobi program.

Naruto Uzumaki, on the other hand…

Kakashi had in fact read all their files, and had to admit that his preconceptions concerning the trio were proving to be very wrong. It had been slightly obvious that the Uchiha's and Uzumaki's files had been doctored heavily; the Uchiha's spoke of powerful jutsu and a nearly fully-unlocked Sharingan, while the reality was that the boy only knew about three jutsu over D-rank. The Uzumaki's was, in a word, atrocious. Whoever had written up the boy's file was obviously so biased they shouldn't be allowed a cleaning job in the archives, let alone an actual filing post!

It wasn't so much a service record as a list of insults. No mention of the boy's new kekkei genkai was made.

Kakashi had already resolved to ask the Hokage about dropping the Haruno from the shinobi program, sending the Uchiha back to the Academy and perhaps keeping the Uzumaki if just to learn about the new dōjutsu he possessed. Maybe he could persuade Kurenai to swap for her Hyūga girl. Kami knew the jōnin kunoichi despised fangirls and if he could assemble a full team of dōjutsu users… Kakashi fought down the urge to salivate, oh the possibilities…

He snapped out of his thoughts as he heard eight voices roar, "SHINRA TENSEI!" and was forced to do a substitution to avoid the attacks which collided where he had been standing, batting the log around like a reed in the wind.

Kakashi didn't realize that Naruto was communing with the Kyūbi which, being centuries old and practically a force of nature on its own, was also a master strategist. As such, when he substituted he ended up putting himself right into the trap that the jinchūriki had set up with his tenant's assistance.

He had just landed behind a tree when he heard a voice behind him say, "Banshō Ten'in," and felt the bells be ripped off his belt.

Whirling around, he came face-to-face with a Naruto that he immediately knew to be the original, just in time to see him raise his palm, smirk and utter, "Shinra… Tensei."

Kakashi was smashed into the tree trunk by the brunt of the blow. He slid to the foot of it and groaned, "Ow… that jutsu hurts."

Naruto smirked, rubbing his arms as he held up the bells, "Tell me about it. Kyūbi says I should get used to the twinges after a while, but the constant bursts of chakra going through my arms hurt like hell."

Kakashi sighed, "Well, you made it. Help me grab those two will you?"

-TRM-

They dug Sasuke out of the ground and dragged him and Sakura to the stump, where Kakashi tied both of them to it.

"I knew the real purpose of the test all along," said Sasuke, smirking despite being tied to a stump, "It was obviously going to be teamwork, wasn't it? I read your file, after all."

Kakashi crouched in front of the Uchiha, "And how did you get hold of that? Ninja files are meant to be classified material!"

Sasuke snorted, "Classified? Ha! Nothing is out of your reach when you are an Uchiha! The idiot on your team must not have known that, or he wouldn't have got his stupid self killed!"

Naruto, watching quietly, noticed that Kakashi's apathetic façade was cracking. Evidently he sorely wanted to kill the genin, "I am going to disregard that slight on Obito Uchiha's memory because reacting as I want to would kill you. As it is, not only am I going to fail the two of you, I'm recommending both of you have your chakra sealed and are dropped from the shinobi program."

Sasuke's lip curled, "You can't do that to me! I'm an Uchiha!"

Naruto suddenly concentrated on Sasuke, prompting the Uchiha to glare at him, "Impressed, dobe?"

Naruto did not rise to the bait, instead looking down and seeming to draw in on himself for a minute, "What are you talking about, Kyūbi?"

"He's a girl, kit! The Uchiha's a girl! I can smell it!"

"Ummm, Kyūbi? I think you might be losing it, locked up in my head. He looks very much male to me."

"I'm serious, kit! Here, I'll show you another one of your Rinnegan techniques. Put your hand on his forehead!"

Naruto took a step forwards and clamped his hand down on Sasuke's forehead. The Uchiha struggled, "Hey, what are you doing, dobe? Get off!"

"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate."

A few seconds passed while Naruto's hand shone light blue, before Kakashi suddenly noticed that lines of chakra were beginning to appear all across the Uchiha's body. Finally there was a muffled snapping noise and Sasuke howled with pain before going completely limp.

Drawing heaving breaths, Sasuke winced at a suddenly renewed amount of pressure on his chest before he spoke, "What the hell'd you…" before stopping at the sound of his own voice.

Kakashi's single eye widened comically as he beheld his suddenly least favourite genin. Sasuke had changed a lot. He… she… suddenly had longer black hair than it previously had been, almost waist-length, though it still stuck up at the back like a duck's behind. Her black eyes were now slanted slightly and looked distinctly more feminine, while a certain amount of bulging in the ropes over her front showed that other things had developed as well.

Naruto went pale for a moment before turning back to his usual shade and grinning, "Ah, so I didn't actually kiss a guy after all!"

Sasuke looked down at herself for a long moment before she gave a strangled shriek and wailed, "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?"

Kakashi gaped at the boy-turned-girl as well before he suddenly palmed his mask and groaned, "Minato-sensei… you really were bat-shit-insane towards the end there, weren't you?"

Naruto frowned, "Who is Minato? Why was he bat-shit-insane, sensei?"

Kakashi shook his head, "I'll tell you later, Naruto. Come on, we're going to the Hokage. Untie those two and let's move!"

He tossed a kunai across at Naruto, who threw it back and simply pointed one hand at each of the genin, "Banshō Ten'in!"

The ropes snapped as the two genin were pulled in his direction. Flipping Sakura over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, Naruto waited for Kakashi to grab Sasuke before the four of them set off for the Hokage's Tower.

-TRM-

Sakura woke up halfway there. Quickly realizing where she was and what was going on, she started punching Naruto in the back in an attempt to make him let her go. Naruto finally stopped and said, "Sakura? You really might not want to annoy me, because I have you in the perfect position to goose you here."

Sakura hissed angrily at him between her gritted teeth, "Just try it, you pervert!" and resumed trying to break his spine and paralyze him from the waist down.

Naruto sighed, "Suit yourself." He shifted his grip on her legs a little, raised his left hand above his head, curled in all but his middle and index fingers… and jabbed sharply at the pinkette's vulnerable hindquarters.

Kakashi watched and tried not to snigger as the Haruno thrashed around and began screaming about Naruto being a pervert. The blond might be his sensei's child, but Kakashi could actually see himself and the boy's mother in the diminutive boy. Actually, he thought, as he reaffirmed his grip on the newly-female Uchiha's shoulder and resumed his walk towards the Hokage's Tower, Naruto seemed more like Obito than him, with his devotion to his team-mates (though Kakashi couldn't really blame Naruto for being lacking in that regard) and his drive to succeed.

-TRM-

If he were asked, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, could probably attribute most of the headaches he'd suffered since he resumed his position to being either directly or indirectly associated with his adoptive grandson, Naruto Uzumaki.

Therefore, when Kakashi Hatake walked through his office door, followed by Naruto, Sarutobi simply took one look at what his surrogate grandson was carrying and reached for the bottles of headache medicine and sake in his desk drawer.

"So let me get this straight," said Sarutobi after a long time, "Naruto not only succeeded in passing the infamous bell test alone and using only about three or four techniques, but he also saw through some kind of genjutsu on Sasuke here and then absorbed it, revealing him to really be a girl?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yes; that is an excellent summary."

"And you also want to turn the Uchiha over to Inoichi Yamanaka to find out who's been giving him restricted material?"

Kakashi nodded again, "Yes. I believe his exact words were "Classified? Ha! Nothing is out of your reach when you are an Uchiha!" He knew a lot about me and my old team, which I would add was very highly classified."

Sarutobi nodded before turning to one of the ANBU, "Find Inoichi Yamanaka and have him come here at once to collect the Uchiha for interrogation, please."

The ANBU nodded and disappeared. Sarutobi, expecting a complaint from Sasuke, turned to face the no-longer-male.

Sasuke was very still, staring straight ahead and completely silent. Sarutobi raised his eyebrows at Kakashi, who nodded and punched the Uchiha in the back of the head.

"OW! How dare you lay a hand on me, an elite Uchiha?"

Naruto spoke up, "You went into shock; it wasn't his choice, now shut up."

Sasuke turned on the boy, "Why don't you shut up, dobe?"

Naruto simply snorted and turned away, slumping back down in his chair with a bored expression on his face.

Kakashi noticed Sakura was becoming restless, "Sakura, go home. Get some rest."

The pinkette gave Naruto one last glare before exiting the office.

"Ano, why was she glaring at you, Naruto?"

"I goosed her on the way here."

"Ah."

-TRM-

Inoichi Yamanaka came by to pick up Sasuke and take him off to the T&I Division fifteen minutes later, before Kakashi suddenly addressed Sarutobi, "That reminds me, is it possible for me to either have Sakura transferred or drop her from the program without affecting the other two? I would like to keep Naruto; his new dōjutsu, what did you call it?"

"The Rinnegan!"

"…His Rinnegan would be invaluable. From the few techniques I've seen, it's obvious that that particular kekkei genkai is extremely powerful. What other techniques are there, Naruto?"

"Aside from the… you know what, Kyūbi can probably answer these better than me, hang on I'll see if he's awake."

He shut his eyes and seemed to enter a meditative state. A second passed before his eyes opened again, revealing red eyes with slit pupils, "Yeah?"

Kakashi was on his feet before he could react, reaching for a kunai as he cautiously watched the beast that had taken over his prospective student. Kyūbi-Naruto raised his hands, "Hey, I'm not going to eat anybody. Naruto can immediately retake control if I start attacking people. I'm just here because as the progenitor of all dōjutsu, even that Sharingan you keep hidden away, I'm the best person to consult about the Rinnegan's powers."

Kakashi glanced across at Sarutobi, who gestured for him to retake his seat. As soon as the cycloptic jōnin had returned to his chair, Kyūbi-Naruto stood and began to pace, "So, you want to know about the Rinnegan's powers… Alright. Aside from being able to use all five nature transformations as well as the little-known Yin-Yang Release, thus allowing the user to literally perform any jutsu they wish to, along with the ability to see chakra as we saw earlier, the Rinnegan permits its user to use the six paths techniques. Three of the techniques you have already seen, two of which and a third Naruto can currently perform on his own. Those three he can perform are the Shinra Tensei, the Banshō Ten'in, and the Chibaku Tensei, usable through the Deva Path. The fourth that you know of is the chakra absorption ability that he used to dispel the genjutsu on the Uchiha. That last one is usable through the Preta Path."

Sarutobi and Kakashi nodded, before the Hokage said, "So there is the Deva Path, the Preta Path, what others are there?"

Kyūbi-Naruto leaned against the wall before continuing, "The next path I will talk about is the Animal Path. Through the Rinnegan, Naruto may summon a number of beasts to fight with him in combat. After I have taught him how to use them, I will be sure to request that he give you a demonstration of the beasts he can summon, if you like."

At the Hokage's nod, he continued once more, "The fourth path is the Human Path. Through this path the user, by simply placing their hand atop a victim's head, may extract any information or secret the victim hides. The only drawback is it can only really be used on targets that you don't mind losing, as removal of the hand will also suck the victim's soul out."

Kakashi gave a dry laugh, "That'd save the T&I Division some time since they'd only have to dispose of the body!"

Kyūbi-Naruto nodded, "Quite. Now, the Asura Path. This path has the most passive abilities of the lot. Naruto will be able to take an obscene amount of damage from attackers; his strength, speed and chakra levels, already very high because of me, will be improved; however Naruto will need to learn to use this power properly. Improper use of the boosts inherent with this path's synchronization with his body will not only kill him, but everybody in the vicinity as well. I believe there is a place in Konoha called "The Forest of Death". I believe this would be a most suitable location for Naruto to use this path's abilities."

Sarutobi and Kakashi looked at each other before Sarutobi spoke, "Maybe after the Chūnin Exams, if he competes and is promoted. And the final path?"

Kyūbi-Naruto scratched the back of his neck with one hand, before wincing and looking at his bloody claws, "Dammit, I didn't realize I couldn't do that in Naruto's body. Oh well… the final path is called the Naraka Path. Through the use of this path, Naruto may be able to summon the Outer Path, which serves two purposes: interrogation and restoration. Using this path, Naruto need only catch hold of an enemy for the Outer Path to appear. After they have been interrogated, they will be judged by the Outer Path. If they have told the truth, they will be spared, though suffering from extreme exhaustion for some time afterwards is natural. If they have lied, or refused to answer, their life force will be torn from them and they will die. I don't know yet how the restoration ability will factor in, but I do know this. Through a technique unique to the Outer Path, Naruto may be able to release his own life force to people around him who have recently died and thus allow their souls to return to their mortal bodies. That's all I know. Ridiculous I know, considering I was the original part of the Jūbi that bestowed the ability on the Rikudō Sennin, but hey, I can't know everything, even if I am the Kyūbi!"

Sarutobi's and Kakashi's heads were spinning with this massive amount of information they were being given. Kakashi finally blurted, "Why are you telling us all of this?"

Kyūbi-Naruto gave him a wry grin, "If you people are going to trust me again, nothing can be concealed or hidden from you. After all, the only reason I attacked Konoha anyway was because I had a bad experience with one of your Uchiha, tracked him back here and got attacked by your shinobi. I thought they were sheltering him so I… over-reacted… a little."

Both men sweat-dropped, "A little? More like a lot!"

Kyūbi-Naruto pouted, which was somehow scarier than hell on the feral visage of Konoha's #1 Unpredictable Knucklehead Ninja, "Alright, alright, don't judge me! Well anyway, I'm hungry and none of us got any bento boxes, so I'm going to let the kit take back over and we can go for ramen! I love ramen!"

This last sentence was said with a look of hunger that was somehow even more chilling than the pout. Kakashi couldn't help but shiver as he stood up and said goodbye to the Hokage, deciding to go and think over what to do about the team by the monument to fallen ninja.

Naruto, meanwhile, retook control of his mind and headed off for some ramen.

Sarutobi sat back in his chair for a long moment before sighing, standing up and turning to look out of his window.

-TRM-

Inside the T&I Division, Inoichi Yamanaka was swimming around inside the Uchiha's head. It was an eerie experience, as there were shadows everywhere which seemed to move about when he wasn't looking directly at them.

He had just been moving through an area which was littered with cracks in the walls (no doubt the remnants of the powerful genjutsu he/she had been placed under by Itachi Uchiha the night of the Uchiha massacre) and finally reached the boy-turned-girl's brain. To his surprise, it was surrounded by a large amount of seal arrays.

Inoichi moved forwards, inspecting one of the arrays. It was loose, almost like a ribbon, draped around the Uchiha's brain. Inoichi hesitantly reached out and pressed a single finger to the line of characters before him.

Almost instantly, there was a reaction. The arrays glowed scarlet one after another before constricting around the Uchiha's mind.

Inoichi immediately ended the jutsu. Ibiki, standing beside his body outside, turned around as Inoichi drew breath, "What?"

Inoichi turned startled eyes on his co-worker, "There's some kind of seal on his mind, it activated when I got close; I couldn't stop it!"

The Uchiha verified this with a piercing scream. Almost instantly, the door flew back and Anko Mitarashi ran in, "What's going on?"

Raising his voice over the Uchiha's continued screaming, Ibiki quickly filled the woman in. As soon as he was done, the three of them watched cautiously as the boy-turned girl became totally limp, her head hanging.

Sasuke Uchiha drew a shaky breath, before raising her head and regarding the three people in front of her, "Where am I? How did I get here?" She suddenly smiled courteously at them, "Hello. Could one of you direct me to my master?"

"Your… master?" said Anko with a stupefied expression on her face.

Sasuke nodded, the courteous smile still on her face, "Yes, my master, Naruto Uzumaki. Can one of you take me to him so that I can take my place at his side as his loyal servant?"

The three adults gaped at the young clan heir(ess?) for a long moment before Anko suddenly cackled, "Oh this is rich!"

Ibiki palmed his face as his second-in-command departed, cackling to herself, before he walked over to the Uchiha and pulled her up. He needed to see the Hokage.

-TRM-

When Naruto was escorted into the Hokage's office for the third time in as many days, the first person he saw was Sasuke, still in full female mode. What he was not expecting however, was for the Uchiha to drop to her knees on seeing him and mutter something about "proper respect for Naruto-sama".

As Anko started sniggering at the look on Naruto's face, Ibiki turned to Sarutobi, "So you see, Hokage-sama, for some reason the Uchiha now believes himself… herself… to be Naruto's slave."

Naruto gaped, "Wait, what?"

Anko cackled, "Isn't it obvious, gaki? That girl there," she pointed at the still-kneeling Uchiha on the floor before Naruto, "thinks you're her master!"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed a few times before he suddenly whimpered and passed out on the floor. Sasuke raised her head and peered at him, "Master?"

Sarutobi ran a hand over his face for a moment before saying, "Anko-chan, would you mind taking Naruto home? Take Sas… I guess we need to find you a new name now… but let's think on that later… with you."

Anko nodded, picking up the unconscious blond and slinging him over her shoulder before beckoning to Sasuke, "Come on, you."

-TRM-

Naruto woke up the next morning hoping it had all been a dream. After all, there was no way that he had not only revealed Sasuke Uchiha to in fact be a girl, but she had also somehow decided he was her master, was there?

Noting a heavy weight on his side, he looked down. Though the hair was longer than he remembered it, there was no mistaking the distinctive way it stuck up at the back.

"Oh my god…" Naruto thought in horror, hearing the Kyūbi begin laughing hysterically in the back of his mind, "It wasn't a dream!"

Sasuke raised 'her' head, blinking sleepily up at him from under her thick lashes, "Master?"

Naruto jumped out of bed, Sasuke blinking at him, "Gotta get up, gotta find Kakashi-sensei and see what he wants to do about the team!"

Sasuke stood up, smiling as well, "I'll come with you!"

Naruto swallowed, "A-Alright."

-TRM-

Kakashi met them halfway to the Hokage's Tower. He threw a large bag to Sasuke, "Here, Sasuke, you need to go and get new clothes which fit you, seeing as those obviously don't. Naruto, I would like to inform you that you are hereby pronounced as a fully-fledged genin. Sakura is being dropped from the shinobi program since she is not shinobi material at all and Sasuke here…"

Naruto sighed, he really didn't want to do this but he didn't have a choice, "Is she staying? I take it you know about what happened yesterday afternoon?"

The man nodded, "Yup, but the Hokage gave me special permission to run a two-man team, seeing as she's now too interested in you to be concerned with making herself seem superior to everybody."

Sasuke scratched the back of her head, "Yeah… I'm kinda sorry about that."

Kakashi smirked, "I think you should punish her, Naruto!"

Naruto and Sasuke blinked in almost-perfect synchronization before both said, "Sorry?"

Kakashi nodded, "Yes, you must punish your servant, for she is a bad girl!"

Naruto stared at the cycloptic jōnin for a long moment before he said, "Are you high?"

Kakashi's eyebrow twitched, "No. Now go and get her," he pointed at Sasuke, "some new clothing. By the way, your new name is Aiko, Sasuke.

Sasuke, now Aiko, nodded. "And the two of you are expected at the Hokage Tower to get your first missions at ten o'clock. I'm giving the two of you the opportunity to get all the stuff you need before then, already?"

The two genin nodded, "Got it!" and shot off.

Kakashi broke down in sniggers before turning to Anko as she walked up to him, "You were right, their reactions were hilarious."

Anko smirked, "Told you. Now I've got to get back to the T&I Division before Ibiki bitches me out over leaving for so long. Bye!" She ran off.

Kakashi decided to wander around the village for a while and read his book before meeting his two new genin.

-TRM-

Naruto and Aiko spent the next hour finding new clothes for the girl, as well as some clothes for Naruto when Aiko decided to insist on him wearing something other than orange. Her reasoning turned out to be that as his servant, it was her job to keep him alive, and doing that included making sure he was wearing clothes that wouldn't get him spotted very easily when on missions. Therefore it only took her flashing the Uchiha symbol on her new black jacket to get them into one of the more pricy clothes shops, and when she threatened to have one of the clerks fired after he practically spat on Naruto and told him to get out. When he protested that they could refuse service to anyone they wished, she simply gave him a sweet smile and pointed out that she would be happy to take her custom elsewhere if they did not comply. As this particular clothes shop prided itself on serving (or rather, having served at one point) the most prominent clan in Konoha, such a loss of face would ruin their image in the eyes of the people.

After that, they were only too happy to let Naruto purchase his wares there. The fact that Aiko was standing over the clerk playing with a kunai didn't hurt either.

Finally, Naruto walked out of the shop carrying a large amount of new clothes in bags and clad in one of his new jumpsuits. Aiko, already getting into her role as a female (though the seal may have had something to do with that, Naruto didn't know), had understood when Naruto had requested that the jumpsuit had some orange on it.

He explained to her that the reason he wore orange stemmed back to his childhood. An old man (apparently, not the Hokage) had bought him the orange jumpsuit so that he would always be able to find him in the orphanage. After the man had died, Naruto had worn orange ever since in order to remember him.

Therefore he now walked out of the store wearing a black jumpsuit with dark orange bands around the ends of the sleeves and legs. The clerk had looked like he was trying to suppress an impending aneurysm when Aiko had politely "suggested" that he bid Naruto a good day.

Now the pair walked down the street until they came to a weapon shop. Naruto opened the door and glanced inside, noting a bored-looking girl with brown hair pulled up into buns leaning on the counter reading a manga.

Shutting the door again he turned to Aiko, "What do you think? Is it worth learning to use weapons other than kunai and shuriken?"

Aiko gave him a plain look, "It's your choice, Naruto-sama."

The girl's voice floated through the door, "Are you two going to stand out there all day, or are you going to come in and buy something?"

The two genin entered to see the girl looking critically across at them, "Yes?"

Aiko took charge as Naruto didn't seem to be willing to speak, "Hello, we'd like two sets of kunai and shuriken, four folding windmill shuriken and two fūma shuriken each, about six sealing scrolls, four rolls of ninja wire… I think that should do it."

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Preparing for a war, are you?"

Aiko laughed, "Nope, but we did just graduate and I think it'd be suitable if Naruto-sama there and I had everything we might need when we need it rather than needing it and not having it."

The girl nodded approvingly before yawning, her manga still held between finger and thumb as she rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. "Long day?" asked Aiko conversationally as she followed the brunette towards a shelf.

"Yeah," said the girl, "My sensei and one of my team-mates are both fitness nuts, they insist on me and my other team-mate getting up before sunrise to train with them. The only reason I'm not there right now is because my father needed me to mind the shop."

Aiko winced, "Ouch."

The girl nodded, "Tell me about it. And they insist that we keep training until past nightfall. Sometimes I wonder how I haven't dropped dead from exhaustion yet."

Aiko smirked, "Yeah. Naruto-sama is the same; tons of energy for some reason."

The brunette laughed, "And is he a training nut too?"

Aiko shrugged, "I don't know. We haven't started training yet. I do know he beat Kakashi-sensei with about three jutsu though…"

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Kakashi? As in my sensei's eternal rival Kakashi Hatake?"

Aiko shrugged, "Yeah, I guess."

The girl smiled, holding out a hand, "Tenten Takeshi, nice to meet you."

Aiko took the hand and shook, "Aiko Uchiha, likewise."

The two girls shook before Aiko turned to Naruto, "Tenten, this is Naruto Uzumaki, my master."

Tenten gave her new girl friend a quizzical look, "Master?"

Aiko nodded, "Yes. I used to be the current rookie of the year, Sasuke Uchiha, but there was some kind of accident involving a seal and I ended up a girl and utterly devoted to my master here."

Naruto nodded and quickly explained the whole story to Tenten before asking her not to tell anybody. The brunette took one look at the eyes containing sets of rings around the pupils and nodded once.

Aiko checked her watch, "Naruto-sama, we should go. We need to meet Kakashi-sensei for our first missions!"

Tenten frowned, "Alright, I'll quickly gather everything up and open you up a tab. Make sure you pay at a later date though, or my father will use you to test his new kunai!"

Naruto tugged his frog wallet from his belt, causing the two girls to giggle as he opened "Gama-chan" and fished out a very thick roll of ryō notes.

Tenten deftly flipped through the roll, extracted the notes she needed, and packed their purchases into bags for them, "Come back soon, Naruto-kun! Aiko-chan!"

"Will do!" they chorused before sprinting out of the store, Naruto creating a horde of clones to carry their shopping home.

-TRM-

Kakashi met them outside the Hokage's office as the two genin ran up to him, "Sorry we're late! We were buying new clothes and weapons."

Kakashi nodded, "So I see. Nice look, Naruto."

Naruto smirked, "Thanks. Let's go!"

They entered the room to see Sarutobi sitting behind his desk with Iruka standing behind him. The scarred chūnin grinned at Naruto, "Hey Naruto!"

Naruto grinned at his Academy teacher, "Hey, Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka looked around, "Where are Sasuke and Sakura? I was under the impression that you were on a team with them! And who is she?"

Naruto nodded at the girl standing beside him, "There's Sasuke, and Sakura got dropped from the shinobi program."

At Iruka's puzzled expression he shrugged, "I'll explain over ramen sometime, ok?"

Iruka nodded, "Tonight?"

Naruto nodded happily, "That works!"

The Hokage coughed, drawing all their attention before holding out a piece of paper to Naruto, who was closest, "This should be a good starting mission for the three of you, pulling weeds in the hospital's herb garden."

"Um," said Naruto, looking down, "Can we have another one? The hospital isn't that fond of me for some reason."

"Did you prank them at some point?" asked Iruka.

Naruto looked up with an insulted expression, "What do you take me for? There are sick and injured people in the hospital! I may like pranks but I do have morals!"

"Okay…" said the Hokage, rummaging through the pile and pulling another one, "How about this? Walking the dogs at the Inuzuka kennels?"

"Dogs don't like foxes and I like not having teeth marks in my butt."

"Hmm… How about this? Picking up …" but he was interrupted by a shrill scream from outside.

"TORA! TORA'S ESCAPED AGAIN!"

The Hokage face-palmed before sighing and looking at the three genin, "It's all yours."

Naruto grinned, "Tora, eh? What is he, a tiger?"

Iruka chuckled, "Not exactly…"

-TRM-

Fifteen minutes later, Tora was in the woods sniffing around and relishing the freedom he had gained in escaping the fiendish beast that called herself his owner again when he heard a human voice behind him, "Banshō Ten'in!" and he was suddenly bowled off his feet by nothing at all and sent tumbling towards the human who had caught him.

Landing in the human's arms, Tora immediately realized he'd been captured and decided to show the human his displeasure. His claws unsheathing with a loud hiss, Tora took a swipe, waited for the pained human to release him and then made a run for a second figure, which looked like it could protect him.

Naruto watched with his hand covering his nose as the demon creature called Tora leapt into Aiko's arms and nuzzled her face. "Careful, Aiko-chan, he's evil."

Aiko giggled as the cat nuzzled her, his whiskers tickling her cheeks, "He's not evil, he's cute."

Kakashi appeared at that moment, took one look at the cat in Aiko's arms and said, "Well done, you two. Tora has been recaptured."

-TRM-

Back in the Hokage Tower, the Fire Lord's wife was getting edgy. Sarutobi had repeatedly assured her that the team he had set to finding her cat was exceptionally skilled (a partial lie, given that they had just graduated, but Naruto's skill with the few Rinnegan techniques he already knew would probably help capture the cat), but she was still panicking slightly.

Finally, the door opened and Kakashi walked in, followed by his two genin. "Tora!" screamed the Fire Lord's wife, rushing towards Aiko.

Tora clawed his way over Aiko's shoulder and hissed at his owner, who stopped and scowled before rounding on Sarutobi, "How dare they turn my cat against me!"

Aiko scowled, "I didn't turn your cat against you! I think he just likes me!"

The woman huffed, "Nonsense. He's my cat!" She plucked the feline in question off Aiko's shoulder and hugged him close, "Aren't you, my little tiger? Yes you are, yes you are!"

Naruto and Aiko both sweat-dropped before Aiko stepped forwards and deftly extricated the cat from the woman's arms, "Don't hug him so hard, you'll hurt him!"

The woman scowled, reaching for her cat, but Aiko stepped out of range, "Listen, this is how you give a cat attention!" She raised two fingers and scratched behind the cat's ear. Tora began to purr.

"Then you stroke along his back with long, smooth, even strokes…" Aiko ran her hand across Tora's back, causing his purring to get louder.

After a minute she held out the cat in her arms to his owner, "You try."

The cat tentatively stepped into his owner's arms. They twitched sharply as she resisted the urge to hug him; instead they stayed still as Tora settled down. "Scratch behind his ears," murmured Aiko.

The Fire Lord's wife's hand shifted, two fingers outstretching and twitching behind the cat's ears. Tora began to purr again.

"Now, long smooth strokes down his back…" Aiko whispered quietly, taking one of the woman's wrists in her hand and gently lifting it onto the cat's head before slowly guiding it down the cat's back to the base of his tail. Lifting it back to his head, she repeated the movement a second time before letting go. The movement didn't cease. Tora's purring grew louder once again.

The Fire Lord's wife finally smiled, thanked Aiko and left after placing a small bag of money (evidently the payment for the mission) on the Hokage's desk.

Aiko turned to face Naruto and found him gaping at her, "What?"

"How did you know how to treat the cat?"

Aiko smiled, "My mother had a cat before the… incident…, but I'm not sure what happened to it afterwards. I used to spend days playing with him when I wasn't training."

Naruto was, surprisingly, tactful enough to leave it at that.

Aiko frowned, "That's funny. It's like I can't pull up those memories."

Sarutobi nodded, "Emotional repression of the traumatic memories, it generally happens in that kind of situation."

Aiko shook her head, her waist-length hair swinging slightly, "No, it doesn't feel like I repressed them. It feels like there's something blocking my memory of the event."

Kakashi looked down at her, "Sounds like a memory seal. Don't mess around with it for a while, Inoichi Yamanaka is coming to see you next week to see how you're adapting to the situation, he'll have a look at the seal if you want."

Aiko nodded, "Alright then. Now, are there any more missions to be done or are we clear for the night?"

Sarutobi turned to Iruka, who shook his head, "Sorry Naruto, Sasuke, there aren't any more missions. In fact, I think you just topped the record list for fastest Tora capture, and you even managed to get him to stop running away."

Naruto smirked, "Oh well. Coming then, Iruka-sensei? You did say we'd have ramen tonight!"

Iruka sighed, putting down his clipboard, "Alright, Naruto. Let's go."

He left, followed by the boy and girl.

-TRM-

"So," said Iruka an hour later, "That's how Sasuke ended up a girl, right?"

Naruto nodded, polishing off his eighteenth bowl of ramen, "Yeah. And her name is Aiko, not Sasuke."

Sasuke leaned over from Naruto's other side to look at the chūnin, "Yes, Naruto-sama is correct."

Ayame, standing behind the counter and frowning, repeated, "Naruto-sama? Why is she calling you master, Naruto-kun?"

"Well you see, Ayame-nee-chan, there was an accident with some fūinjutsu seal or other and as a result Aiko-chan is sort of bound to me as a servant. It's kinda complicated."

Ayame nodded, before adopting a threatening expression and waving her ladle, "Treat her well, Naruto-kun. If I hear otherwise, I'm going to make sure you can't eat ramen for a month!"

Iruka covered his mouth with his hands as Naruto's face melted into an utterly horrified expression at being forced to not eat Ichiraku ramen for a month. Aiko took one look at his face and dissolved into giggles as well.

Ayame's stern expression finally cracked and she laughed, "It's ok, Naruto-kun. Just make sure you do treat her well, alright?" Meekly, Naruto nodded. Ayame-nee-chan was very scary when she wanted to be.

Gulping, Naruto stood up and pulled out his frog wallet and started leafing through ryō notes.

Iruka and Ayame cast each other shocked looks; never before had Naruto paid for his ramen when there was somebody else around to pick up the tab, "Well, we should be going. Get up early for training and all that. Come on, Aiko-chan, back to the flat."

Aiko smiled slightly as she stood up, "Naruto-sama, you do realize I own the Uchiha compound… right?"

Naruto gave her a blank look, "Are you sure?"

Aiko gave her master a happy smile, "Of course, Naruto-sama."

Naruto grinned broadly before forming a seal. Turning to the six clones that appeared (and wincing as he saw himself from half a dozen different angles), he said, "Go back to my place, pack everything up and take it to the Uchiha compound. Actually…" He made another six clones and repeated his orders.

"Boss," said one clone, "What should we do with the ramen?"

Naruto was about to say to bring it along when Aiko spoke up, "You should really eat other things besides ramen. It'll help you get bigger!"

Naruto grumbled, before turning to the clones with a screwed-up expression as though there was a bad taste in his mouth, "Eat the ramen. It's all yours. Call it your reward for a good job well done, but you can only eat it after you finish moving everything across to the compound!"

The twelve clones nodded and shot off.

Naruto smirked as he set down the necessary money on the counter before offering an arm to Aiko in a very surprising act of chivalry. Aiko smiled before taking it and allowing Naruto to escort her from the ramen bar.

Iruka and Ayame stayed sitting there staring stupidly at the flaps covering the doorway for a long moment before they both said, "What the hell just happened?"