Misplaced Princess

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Minato held his daughter tightly, so glad that she was finally back in the village, he could cry. Whoops: he was crying! Naruto felt rather stiff in his arms and although he found that understandable yet frustrating - not at her, no never with her - it only made him want to make her life all the better. "How are you, my girl?"

Naruto tried to act normal. Here was the Yondaime Hokage, hero of her village, hugging her and crying. "Sorry," was all she found herself able to say. It seemed to make the man, her father, sadder, however, so she mentally slapped herself and plastered on a smile. "I'm good!"

Truth was, she was pretty good. Burning off a good deal of Kurama's excess chakra had probably taken some time off her life, but it seemed a small price to pay. Now she could use jutsus again, and Ero-sennin had even taught her a few. Manipulating her chakra still hurt a bit, but didn't exhaust her or feel excruciating like it had before. Kurama promised that it would only get better, too, as she continued to grow.

Naruto had been willing to give up even more of her life to make the both of them more effective, but Kurama hadn't allowed it. From what she gathered from him and especially her godfather, she had to save the shinobi world or some shit like that, so what did some of her almost stupidly-long Uzumaki lifespan matter? Scratching her cheek awkwardly, she backed further away from her father and more toward Ero-sennin, shooting a warning look at the sage.

Jiraiya shook his head. If the brat thought that glare meant anything to him, she was sadly mistaken. Time-looping Child of Prophecy or not, she was still a brat and nowhere near his level right now, although he would admit that the kid had some great tricks up her sleeve even outside of the fox factor. He still had loads to teach her, though.

The white-haired shinobi cleared his throat, leaving what she might have done to herself out of the equation for now. "Brat's doing well," he said, ruffling her hair HARD and grinning when she squawked. "She and Kurama-brat have quite the partnership; her chakra control's better and you can use jutsu, can't ya kid?"

"Yeah," Naruto chirped, always glad to have his approval. She loved Ero-sennin: he was great, and truth be told, she'd LOVE LOVE LOVED being outside of the village. "Do you want to see?" she asked her father shyly, ignoring Kurama's grumbling in her head at being called something so derogatory. He seemed to expect it from her godfather, however.

...Her father was the Yondaime, who was nodding at her. For some reason, their relationship had become harder to believe the longer she'd been away.

She was also kinda mad at him but didn't quite know why. Maybe it was because he once hit her - although she was sure he thought he was protecting Kakashi and she'd been being a brat. Or maybe it was because he'd left her in that village, which wasn't really fair. 

Was it?

But to have the Yondaime Hokage's recognition? - That would really be something!

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," she whispered, nervously making a shadow clone. Together, the girls quickly made a good-sized Rasengan. The clone dispelled, leaving the jutsu spinning in her hand. Naruto glanced up at her father, seeing his watery smile before letting the jutsu disappear in her hand. She wasn't sure what to say or what he might want her to say, so she just stared at the toes peeking out of her sandals.

"Very well done, Naru-chan," Minato said, feeling more tears come to his eyes. "It's interesting and great thinking to use a clone to help you shape the jutsu. I could have saved a lot of time when I developed the Rasengan, had I considered using a clone as you did."

"Oh, um, thank you," Naruto said with a dip that he supposed was an unnecessary bow.

"So kawaii!" Minato drawled, unable to help himself. His daughter's face lit up in a pretty blush as she shifted around, making him want to shout (squeal) it to the world. She'd gotten taller over the last several months and tanner, too. He was never letting her go again.

Although he'd seen her a few times, it had taken MUCH too long for Naruto to get her chakra fully under control. - Much longer than they or even the fox had thought it would.

"The pervert says I'm being lame by needing a clone," Naruto explained, getting off the topic of her (not) cuteness. "When he attacks me with the intent to really kill me super fast, I can make one or sometimes two Rasengans without the clone, so I guess he's right. It's something I have to work on."

"Brat. What did I tell you about calling me that?" he grumbled while trying to ignore the sharp KI that Minato was now directing at him.

"Super Pervert. Right," Naruto drawled, exasperated. She jumped when her father flashed to Jiraiya and slapped him in the head.

"Whaaaaa, Mini-chaaaan," Jiriaya cried out like a baby.

Naruto began laughing but swallowed thickly at the loving gaze her father was giving her. She bit her lip and scratched the back of her long hair. "So! Is there anything else?"

"Hmm. Are you hungry?" Minato asked. "Would you like to get some ramen?"

"SURE!"

Back in his office, Minato gave his mentor a hard look before allowing his head to fall back with a tired sigh. "What did you do to her, Jiraiya-sensei?"

"'Do to her?!'" Jiraiya said, his voice going high. "What do you mean 'do to her?' I trained her and we got her..."

"You sent her to see Tsunade," Minato said, waiting for answers.

"Don't worry about that," Jiraiya chuckled (in a way that unintentionally told Minato he was probably lying) while waving his hand. "My clone's on it."

"What do you mean?"

"No way she'll willingly go to the hospital. I'll get help if I have to haul her little ass in there for a check-up," Jiraiya said before taking a long drink of water.

"She's ill?" Minato asked, doubting it, considering how healthy the fox used to keep Kushina, but still worried. "She did feel hot," he said to himself, although Jiraiya was already assuring him that Naruto was not ill.

"That's just the fox's fire nature, Minato. Kushina always ran a little warm, too, didn't she?"

"Not like Naruto," Minato said thoughtfully, but what could he do? He'd wait to see what the results were from Tsunade's check-up on his little princess. "You think she can protect herself now?"

Jiraiya barked out a laugh. "I'd say so. She still sucks at genjutsu and doesn't really understand the art so that makes her more susceptible to genjutsu attacks. But with the fox, it's only a matter of moments before he lets her know and helps her break out of them."

Now it was Minato's turn to let out a laugh - of disbelief. "It's still amazing to think that the rage-filled Kyuubi no Kitsune cares for someone. Well," he continued, stretching in his chair, "considering its Naru-chan, I guess it's understandable."

"Right," Jiraiya said, getting more serious. "What Naru-chan needs is experience."

Minato felt like his heart stopped for a moment before he felt his ire beginning to rise. Why did his sensei always do this to him? "No."

"Minato! Get serious here. The girl wants to be a kunoichi."

Really, Jiraiya expected this: they'd had this argument a few times before. Minato used to have the same overprotective hero-type of issues with his wife, even when Kushina was his girlfriend. "Are you going to break her heart and spirit?" Minato's eyes widened, whether in outrage or anger (and hopefully some degree of understanding) Jiraiya couldn't be sure. When his student narrowed his eyes and shook his head, Jiraiya moved in for the "kill," so to speak. "You're going to deny her the way the village did until they needed her in the previous timelines?"

Minato let out a small gasp. "That's not what I was told," he said in a low, disturbed voice.

"Maybe not directly; maybe sensei gave her a good life and raised her to be a kunoichi once upon a time, but TWICE, she was denied from being a kunoichi because she couldn't make a goddamn clone," Jiraiya said, scoffing.

"Not for long," Minato argued after several silent seconds.

"It was stupid and you know it! No Uzumaki can make a regular bunshin. Tsunade's a quarter and she can't even make a bunshin - don't tell her I said that" Jiraiya quickly said in a lower voice, unsure if that was true considering his one-day-lover (oh, it will happen, he told himself,) had remarkably precise chakra control. "And what Naruto remembers is that she was denied graduation twice in her lifetime - THIS time - because she could only make shadow clones: something most Chunin can't pull off."

Minato took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting himself go slack in his large comfortable office chair. "What do you suggest?"

"She's my apprentice and..."

"You've had her out of the village long enough. Too long!"

"Put her on D-ranks with someone then - not me - and let me take her out now and then when I meet my contacts." His silly student was already subtly shaking his head, looking put out. "At least in Fire Country, Minato. She's interested in traveling more, and is really good with people!"

Minato blew his cheeks out before pulling a face and groaning. "After a while, maybe - And ONLY in Fire Country when I allow it. But not in any brothels!"

"But those girls are my best informants!"

"You seem like you're better," Naruto said to her mother hesitantly. Her mother had been holding a little girl. A baby girl.

"I am," Kushina said, grabbing her daughter into a fierce hug before pulling her down to the couch. "When did you get back?"

"A couple of hours ago, I guess," Naruto said, looking again toward the pale red-haired baby that was now observing her from Kakashi's lap.

"GAH! Why didn't you come home first thing?!"

"Ero-sennin took me to Tou-san's office. Then Tou-san took me to lunch."

"Why, that Minato! I'll get him for that! Don't tell me you two had ramen?!"

"EEK! I shoulda brought you some! I'm sorry, Mom!" Naruto's attention was diverted from a further discussion regarding her heinous crime of withholding ramen when the big baby started babbling at her. Although Kakashi looked cute holding a baby, he also looked slightly afraid of it, which was really funny. "Who's the kit?" she asked, suddenly embarrassed that she'd used that word.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, this is your cousin, Uzumaki Karin," Kushina said happily. She still had a death grip on her daughter.

"Ano," Naruto mumbled, struggling to pull away inch-by-repeated-inch to move forward to shake the little girl's hand. Karin-chan tried to pull her fingers into her mouth, making her blue eyes widen in surprise. "Nice to meet you?" When Kakashi snorted, Naruto felt her cheeks heat up. "Well, what am I supposed to say to her, 'ttebayo?"

"Maa, she's a baby," Kakashi said reasonably but trying to sound very bored. Really, he was glad to see Naruto. And she looked really pretty.

"That tells me nothing, you know," she mentioned dryly before turning to her mother. No, it wasn't like Naruto was jealous of a baby - much - but... In fact, she would really LIKE to have siblings but knew her mother shouldn't do that because she wasn't that healthy but... "Can you have more babies?" As soon as the words left her stupid, overachieving mouth, she felt like a gigantic heel. "I'm SORRY! I'm not," she began to explain, choking back tears, not seeing that what she'd asked hadn't bothered her mother at all, although she did look worried about her.

Kushina and Kakashi were baffled when Naruto ran back to her room, most likely crying.

Naruto found another person lying in her bed.

"Oh, hello! My goodness! You must be Naruto-hime!"

Naruto looked to the window for escape but remembered that it was sealed. She thought of springing a bunch of tails and breaking through the wall, but that would be rude plus Kurama wasn't up for it, telling her instead to "grow up and chill the fuck out." Glancing nervously at the person in what she thought was her room again, she wondered if she'd have to go back to her old, lonely apartment. "Ohayo?" she asked more than said while plastering an unknowingly pathetic smile on her face. "I'm um, Naruto," she affirmed, forcing herself to stop twitching.

What the hell was wrong with her?! This wasn't how the awesome Uzumaki Naruto acted! She hadn't been all stupid and angsty for months, if ever.

"My name's Uzumaki Ame-no-Uzume, a ridiculously overpowered name: I know; but after my uncle named Kushinadahime after the goddess - well, you know how brothers are. Anyway, I'm your mother's cousin," the redhead now sitting up said, her small smile still somehow bright and warm. "But you can call me Ame: everyone does - or Ame-oba! Karin-chan and I reached Konoha some time ago, and oh! I apologize for resting in your room, ya know!"

"That's okay," Naruto said, feeling a bit better.

Gods, how could she have forgotten about her mother's cousin and little girl being here? She and her godfather had been working so hard at getting her to stop lighting up gold like some kind of raging chakra comet, she'd sometimes fallen asleep while reading her mother's letters. They had stopped coming so frequently some time ago, and Naruto felt guilty for probably being the cause of that. Her mother was a nice person and she'd bet anything that her mom didn't know what to say when she wasn't writing her back.

"I'm sorry I woke you, 'ttebane."

"Ah," Ame exclaimed, "you've got the verbal tic, too, I see."

"Yeah, it fluctuates," Naruto admitted sheepishly. "Would you mind excusing me for a minute? I seem to have made a giant ass out of myself downstairs."

Ame said that was fine and Naruto offered to cover her up before quietly shutting her door and hopping down the stairs.

"Sorry about that! Brain fart, ya know!"

Kakashi covered his face with his hand, but her mother burst out laughing. When she stood up smoothly all by herself, Naruto had to stop herself from launching herself on her. "Are you - are you really better?!"

"I am," Kushina said with a huge smile before taking baby Karin from Kakashi. "I'm not doing much these days, and I've decided to be a sensei!"

"That's wonderful!"

"An Academy sensei," Kakashi clarified as he stood up.

Kushina began giving the older teen a hard time while rocking Karin but quieted as she watched her beautiful daughter approach him. Naruto had her hand on her head and walked toward the young Jonin, checking to see how tall she was against him. Kakashi's eye looked like it was bugging out, a blush was clearly evident over his mask and ear, and when he gulped so hard, Kushina wanted to squeal.

"You've gotten taller," Naruto said to him simply. He also didn't look quite so skinny: all lanky and stuff anymore.

"Yeah," Kakashi said breathlessly, "so have you, I think."

His voice is deeper, too. It's nice. "I dunno," she questioned, tapping her chin before moving to get behind him. "What do you think, Kaa-chan?"

Kushina looked at both of her big kids and let out a whimper. "I think you're both getting too big!" Deciding to mess with her future-son-in-law - oh, it was going to happen, as far as she was concerned - she kept her face innocent but decided to infuriate him, regardless. Kakashi had been a little shit about babysitting last week so he had payback coming! "You know, Naru-chan: Gai-kun still wants to take you out on that date."

"Oh," Naruto said, blushing over the idea of a DATE as she continued to glance back at Kakashi. Kakashi had given them a hard time about that, hadn't he?

Yes, a chibi-Kushina cried out in her mind. Kakashi looked infinitely agitated: it was rolling off his chakra in waves. Today couldn't get any better! "I think he wants to take you to Ichirakus."

"Well, that would be nice!"

A few days later...

"What did you do to her, Pervert," Tsunade asked the pervert in a voice that indicated she was pissed.

Boy, was Jiraiya glad he didn't pick up that girl that had been practically throwing herself at him! Tsunade had really snuck up on him when she found him and dragged him back to the hospital. "What? Why does everyone keep asking me that?! We trained, Tsu, and you said she was fine, right?"

"That's what I told the brats."

"Aaaaaand?" Jiraiya asked, hoping that she really hadn't lied to Minato, Kushina, and Naruto. And to him.

"Her chakra network's frayed."

"Frayed," Jiraiya deadpanned. He'd never heard that term used relative to one's chakra network, and there was no way he was going to tell her what Naruto had done when he'd had to leave her to check on his spy network once. Really, he wasn't sure exactly what she had done! Naruto had (for once: gods that girl could talk) been tight-lipped about it.

What a thing for him to have come back to -

"What's a few years of my life for you and your siblings, Kurama. Please? Just one more time!"

Then he had been blown straight off the island they'd camped on.

Naruto still wouldn't say just what it was that she and the fox did to expel so much energy without using her greatly loved bijuu bombs, and he was also unaware of how many times she had previously done it while he was gone. She'd been weak afterward: really weak. That was one of the reasons it took them so long to get back, although she did seem healthier and healthier every day.

I shouldn't have listened to her. I should've brought her straight to Tsunade! Naruto had been having nightmares about Danzo and panic attacks, though, and...

"Are you listening to me?!"

"Of course I am, princess," Jiraiya lied. From the look Tsunade was giving him, she didn't believe him. Oh well. He unsealed a bottle of sake to make everything right in her world again.

"I don't know what kind of harsh training you two were doing, but no more for a while," she said, scrutinizing him more. He looked guilty and it took a LOT to make Jiraiya feel guilty when it came to shinobi crap. "I suppose the fox will probably heal her."

"Yeah," Jiraiya grumbled as he downed a shot. "Let's hope."

Kakashi wanted to pull his hair out. His assignment was ridiculous, but like any mission, he would fulfill it dutifully and with honor. He'd been following these two around for two hours while Gai kept a running commentary on youth and the different parts of the village like a deranged tour guide. But now they'd finally circled back to Ichirakus. The whole thing would be over soon, he told himself.

He quickly threw a shuriken at Gai so that he would keep his filthy hands away from Naru-hime's face. It was bad enough that they were sharing an appetizer, dipping their fingers into the same dish. Gai had tried to feed her and Kakashi would not allow that.

A shinobi's honor had limits and Kakashi was positive his sensei, the Hokage, would agree with him.

Gai only glanced at him and scowled. Naru seemed to find what he'd done funny, though. "Good aim, Kakashi-kun," she laughed before popping another spicy edamame into her mouth before turning back to her date.

It was the first time she'd addressed him on their farce of a date and Kakashi could admit that it made him feel a little better.

"Date:" Kakashi wanted to vomit. Call him an asshole, but Gai was not dating material! Not for Namikaze Naruto.

She'd only just gotten back after being away for SO LONG! Naruto had tried to make him feel better about the horrible situation he was in before they left to meet up with Gai...

"I did promise Gai-kun I'd go out with him, Kakashi-kun. I never go back on my promises: that's my ninja way!"

Gosh, she was so cute. He was starting to believe he had a problem. That problem was Gai, he told himself. The problem was Genma, he told himself as he watched her pretty blue eyes peruse a new noodle menu.

"Ooo, there's eggplant on the menu. Can we please have Kakashi-kun eat with us, Gai-kun?" she asked, her eyes sparkling and wide.

She remembers I like eggplant!

Naruto and Kushina had only made his favorite dish the previous night, but that didn't really matter. And speaking of Kushina-nee, I am going to get her for this. Yes indeed: he'd take a page out of her book this time!

"No, beautiful flower! As an experienced Jonin," Gai began, preparing to wail on his rival if he mentioned that he'd been a Jonin for a very short time, "I can safely say that a client should respect shinobi protocol. Protocol states that the subject or client should continue in his or her affairs as he - or she," he stated daringly, trying to kiss Naru-hime's hand - another shuriken came flying - "is guarded."

He pulled the third and fourth shuriken out of the wall. Gai had no issue with what his rival was doing: he wasn't really trying to kill him, (otherwise, Kakashi would have hit him,) plus his Eternal Rival was a real stickler on where he purchased his outstanding weapons. He put them in his weapons pouch, happy to take them off his hands.

"I guess," Naru said, still feeling uncomfortable. This dinner date felt like she had a big mean guard dog. And not the giant black one on the other side of the table. Or the cute one laying on her feet! Or the one in the plant that kept growling at Gai! Or the pug in her lap! "But what if he's hungry?"

Awww, Kakashi thought before shaking his head, wondering where that came from. What in the world was wrong with him?

"He's a shinobi. We must often go hungry and survive on ration bars or soldier pills," Gai said between bites.

"Blasphemy," Naruto replied happily to the green-clad teen. Gai reminded her SO much of her old classmate, (before he graduated without her,) Lee. "A good shinobi must always be prepared. That means having up to a year's supply of ramen on hand in storage seals."

"Here here," Teuchi agreed, giving the kids a big thumbs up. He liked the way this Naru girl thought! Plus, watching the three on their date, and getting such funny reactions from Kakashi-kun was wonderful. The boy obviously had a terrible crush on the cute little blonde. When another teenage boy she'd been in with before wandered in looking smug, Teuchi had to return to his prep room so the kids didn't see him laughing.

He did watch them from around the corner, though.

"What up?" Genma asked, rolling his senbon to the other side of the mouth, giving the Hokage's pretty daughter a winning smile as he sat down in the vacant chair closest to her. He dodged the kunai Kakashi sent his way. Looking over at the silver-haired Jonin, he frowned. "What are you reading?" Naruto answered before Masked Central could.

"Ero-sennin's latest work: it's got a story, but is basically smut or maybe porn: I don't really know the difference."

Kakashi raised the book up more, knowing that his entire face was red. Actually, Makeout Paradise was a heart-pounding shinobi romance, at least so far. Genma and Gai were coughing - and their expressions as they tried to hold it together was highly entertaining, really.

"You -you're serious?" Genma asked at the same time Gai spoke.

"How Unyouthful!"

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, why?" Kakashi repeated, looking quite innocent, he believed. Not quite as innocent as Naruto, though, he guessed, which was a little bewildering considering what she'd just said.

"It's fine. It's got a romance and stuff and is," suddenly Naruto's face flushed as her eyes went wide, although she looked like she was somewhere else. Minato flashed to the scene when her chakra flared violently.

"Naru-chan," he exclaimed before glaring at the BOYS and ninken surrounding his daughter. "What's going on here?" No one spoke at first, but Naruto seemed to be breathing almost meditatively although she kept her eyes tightly closed.

"Sorry," she finally said, deeply embarrassed. Whatever she saw: tangled limbs, moaning, and... No, that wasn't her life. No worries! Those unwanted memories from some other life were not the ones she was making - and she was determined to live her life to the fullest, doing her duty to the village and more.

None of that stuff. No way: she was way too young for that stuff. Plus, that shit was super scary when it came right down to it.

"Maa, sensei! Kushina-sama ordered me to guard Naruto-hime on her date with Gai-kun. Genma-baka came over to flirt with her," Kakashi explained to his sensei - again, innocently.

After a beat, both shinobi in question took off running, leaving an exasperated Hokage with his daughter who looked shocked, along with his student. "Thank you, Kakashi-kun. You two go ahead and eat. I need to have a word with my wife!"

Kakashi had one word for this mission: success!

He really was a genius.