The Kitsune Demon

" N..naruto you...you, but how " Kakashi choked on his words looked like he wanted to cry when he saw the son of his sensei. When he had returned to Konoha, he wanted to see Naruto right away then Kakashi learned that Naruto hasn't been seen since he left. Sorrow overwhelmed Kakashi as he had failed to protect another person close to his heart. Kakashi had spent the first month boarded up in his room drinking his sorrows away, the one to bring him out of his slump was Yamato the wood nature felt indebt to Kakashi as he had saved him from a dark path so it was his turn to help the person her respected most.

Hiruzen, on the other hand, was stoic as ever at least on the outside, on the inside however he was thanking the higher forces that Naruto hadn't fallen into the hands of other forces or villages. " I'm sorry Kakashi me and Hinata went into the forest one day and found something that took up a large amount of time, but the pay off was well worth it "Naruto's eyes softened as he gazed at the first person to show him kindness. Coughing Hiruzen brought the conversation back on track, " While I'm glad that you and Hinata have returned to the village safely, you must explain where you were all this time " Sighing Naruto took off his cloak fully revealing his two tails following his lead Hinata also removed her cloak.

Hiruzen and Kakashi were even more surprised, but for Hiruzen his shock quickly turned into fear and greed. Fear that the Nine Tail might be corrupting Naruto, but his greed overshadowed his other emotions looking at Hinata he could tell that her strength and chakra had increased to the level of Jonin for a four-year-old it was unheard of. Knowing that Hinata was originally human Hiruzen surmised that they had discovered a way to turn humans into whatever they were. " As you can see both of us had gained much from our time away, but we are back and happy to return to our normal lives "

Hiruzen nodded, " Very well since it's still early in the morning I will have shinobi escort you to a room to rest your heads " with a wave of his hand several Anbu appeared in the room, standing up both Hinata and Naruto were escorted from the room. A brief walk and Naruto and Hinata both sat on a bed in a neatly furnished room. " Naruto, why did you reveal our race change, even though they don't know the exact details " Hinata let the thought trail off her intent relaying everything she meant. Naruto nodded as her reasoning made sense, " I wanted to see how he reacted, I don't know if it extended to you but I can sense strong negative emotions when he saw your transformation I sensed pure greed from him. In the future, we can't place any trust in the leaf village, tell your father that he will have to choose one day "

Seeing the resolute steel in her eyes Naruto smiled, how lucky was he that he had found such a wonderful friend. After a few hours had passed an Anbu guard had come to awake the sleeping kids only to find that both of them were exercising doing things like sit-ups and push-ups things that they could do in the small room. After spending five minutes preparing and cleaning up which included using a body-altering jutsu to hide their ears and tails, Naruto and Hinata parted ways Hinata heading towards her clan, and Naruto heading to an apartment that was provided to him by the Hokage. Although Kakashi wanted to have NAruto live with him Hiruzen told him Naruto needed his own space, the real reason was the Hokage wanted to spy on Naruto and Kakashi would make things complicated.

As she walked Hinata steeled herself for the difficult conversation ahead, since she had been gone for nine months her father had probably selected Hanabi to be the next heiress. Lost in her thoughts Hinata didn't realize that she was already at Hyuga clan's gate. From inside she heard the sound of people sparring after a minute of hesitation Hinata pushed on the door and it slowly opened. The various noises created from fight stopped as Hinata stepped into the courtyard, in the middle stood Neji and Hanabi while her father surveyed the duo training. They were all shocked, " Lady Hinata you've returned " the first one to break the silence was Neji. When Hinata went missing Neji knew that he had failed, his job was to protect the heiress to the Hyuga clan. Bowing her head towards her father Hinata said, " Father, we need to talk "