It was late afternoon in Konoha, the sun was bright, the wind was gentle and soothing, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The shops were open, and people were walking happily in the streets with a smile on their face or without a care in the world. They had a new Hokage in office and the structure of the village had been repaired from the Suna-Oto invasion not too long ago.

Yes, in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, everything seemed to be perfect.

However, even in a village such a Konoha, there dwelled sinister people, people whose thoughts and plans would only result in harm to all but themselves. Or at least, no intentional harm to themselves that is.

One such person was about to do something that would forever affect the lives of two innocents.

"At last! With this in my hands I will finally obtain the lifestyle I deserve." A rather wicked voice said like a bad guy cliché. "Oh it's going to be sweet, having everything done for me rather than by me. Not to mention being young again."

This person then looked at the object they held in their hands. They held it with the carefulness one would give a fragile newborn child, however their eyes stared at it with a look of a hungry dog.

"Getting a hold of this sure wasn't easy. It took a lot of ryo and three months of waiting, but with all the loose ends covered, no one should suspect a thing. But I better make one small adjustment to ensure it works as planned."

Taking a brush and dipping it in a ink well, this person wrote someone's name on the object in question before they pocketed it. "There, now to go out and get what I want."

Uzumaki Naruto, the town's infamous blonde-haired prankster, raced through the crowded streets, moving past all the people so to not run into them.

"Scuse me, coming through, on your side, thank you." Naruto said as he dodged several villagers.

He continued this until after five minutes of dodging villagers, until finally he saw his target. The girl he had tried to get to be his girlfriend since he was a little kid.

"Hey Sakura-chan, I got a question for ya." Naruto said as he approached his teammate.

"Naruto I'm not going to go on a date with you." She told him quite firmly.

"No not that. What I meant was does this belong to you?" He said as he held up a white scroll with black ends.

"No. Why? Where'd you find it?"

"Just lying on the ground. It was near our training grounds. I thought maybe one of us dropped it." The blonde explained.

"Well it's not mine. Maybe it's Sasuke-kuns." Sakura suggested.

"Could be, the teme probably is dumb enough to leave something like this behind while he's busy brooding." Naruto offhandedly commented.

As expected, the young pinkette got really mad. Mad enough that her eyes were a pure hot white with a shadow covering them and a dark blue flame could be seen around her as she clenched her fists at her side and a tick mark could be seen on her forehead. "NA-RU-TO!"

"Oh crap!" was the entire aforementioned boy said before running like a frightened rabbit.

"GET BACK HERE!" Sakura yelled as she gave chase, intending to beat the Uzumaki five feet into the ground.

Before long, but not before Sakura lost track of him, Naruto turned a corner and bumped right into someone. Hard. Both fell down onto the ground, hitting their rears quite hard too.

"Ouch! Watch where you're going kid!" The other person said, their eyes clenched shut as they rubbed their sore spots.

"So sorry. I didn't see you there." Naruto said before getting back up. He looked down and saw he had dropped his scroll and picked it back up before running away from Sakura again.

After who knows how long, Naruto managed to lose her. That girl was nearly relentless when it came to chasing him down. When he was sure he lost her he stopped in an alley to catch his breath.

"Damn, Sakura-chan sure gets crazy when she's mad." He then looked at the scroll in his hands. "And I still don't know who this belon-" He stopped when he noticed something new, a name written on the scroll. "Huh? But I know there wasn't anything written on it before."

It read 'Hyuuga Hinata'

"Hinata? This belongs to her. But I'm positive this scroll was blank when I found it." He told himself before thinking about how this could be explained. "Wait! I know! That person I bumped into must have been carrying a scroll like the one I had to give to Hinata, and I picked this one up by mistake. Whoops. I guess I might as well go give this to Hinata then. If I can find her that is."

In all honesty, he did not know that much about the Hyuuga girl. He knew the basics like where she lived, and her age, but beyond that he knew nothing else about her.

"Hmmm well she can't be that hard to find. I hope." He said as he took off from the alleyway to find Hinata.

The Hyuuga heiress was leaning against a tree, waiting for her team to arrive. 'Where are they? They've never been late before.' She thought as she looked back and forth, expecting see Shino and Kiba come running up and greeting her. But no such luck.

Hinata sighed. She hoped that she had gotten the time right. Perhaps they had already left for the training ground without her. She was half-tempted to go down there and see if that was the case when-

"Hey Hinata!" Naruto's easily recognized voice called out.

"Huh?" Hinata asked as she turned to see her crush coming towards her waving his arm to get her attention.

Blushing, she resisted the urge to hide behind the tree. "Oh, Na-Naruto-kun. Wh-wh-what brings y-you here?" She said timidly as she poked her fingers together.

"I found this. I think it belongs to you." He said, holding out the scroll with her name on it.

"What is it?" She asked, staring at the scroll, with a raised brow.

"I don't know, but it has your name on it."

"Where did you get it?" The Hyuuga asked.

"I bumped into a person, and I accidentally took this one and they took the one I had. When I saw your name I assumed that it either belonged to you or was meant for you." He answered.

Curious, Hinata reached out and grabbed it. But once she placed her hand on it, both she and Naruto felt an incredible shock of pain. It was like being struck by lightning, except it was cold.

Both of them dropped the scroll and clutched themselves, trying to resist a growing sensation of cold pressure and blindness. They also felt a massive headache come. It was if someone was hammering the inside of their skulls. But, fortunately all of the effects faded as quickly as it came, but it certainly had an impact on them.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes, which were sore from the pressure he had felt in his skull.

"Naruto-kun, are you ok?" Hinata asked, keeping her eyes shut while she massaged her temples.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered and opened his eyes and blinked a few times. But when he did, instead of seeing Hinata, he saw... Naruto?

"Huh? What the? I didn't make a clone?" Then he noticed something new. "And what's with my voice? This isn't my voice. It's... girly."

"Naruto-kun?" The Naruto in front of him asked before he looked at him. "What? But... how? Wh-who are you and why do you look like me?" The clone said as he pointed at the real Naruto, and then the clone grabbed its throat, its eyes suddenly becoming wide. "This... this isn't my voice."

Naruto looked at his hands and saw they were smaller and the sleeves were beige instead of orange. "What the hell is going on?" He then looked down at himself, and saw he was wearing Hinata's jacket. "Why am I wearing Hinata's jacket?"

"N-Naruto-kun, is... is that you?" The Naruto in front of him asked.

"Yeah, I'm Naruto, but who are you?" He asked. "Wait, did I create a clone without realizing it?"

"No Naruto-kun, I... I'm Hinata."

"Wait, so that means... I'm you and you're me?"

Both of them stared at each other for a few moments, and then both bodies fell into the ground, unconscious from the shock of the experience.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?" The person who bumped into Naruto said as they tore open the scroll. This was not the scroll they had worked so hard to get. This was a poster scroll of some naked woman, who had autographed it to… Kakashi.

The person who had been hiding in an alley outside the Hyuuga compound surpassed a scream of rage that was building up in their lungs as they ripped the poster in half. Nostrils flared while the individual tried to remember how they could have-

It was then that their eyes widened so much it looked like they were going to pop out of their skulls. "THAT BLONDE-HAIRED KID?"

When they had bumped into each other, the blonde must have switched scrolls on accident.

If that kid opened up the scroll… then everything was ruined, all the months of planning and work would be lost.

The person dropped the torn poster onto the ground and walked slowly out of the alley, a change had occurred in the plan. Now they had to find the blonde and get the scroll back before it was opened. Or worse... activated.

It took about ten minutes for Naruto and Hinata to wake up. When they did, they were almost sure that it had all been a dream and that they were back in their own bodies. But when they saw that they were still looking at themselves, they realized that it was not a fantasy but a reality.

"Oh Kami-sama, we switched bodies!" Naruto in Hinata's body said, and looked like he was about to have a heart attack at the knowledge he had become a girl without using the Sexy Jutsu.

And Hinata did not seem to be faring much better on her own end. She looked at her hands, Naruto's hands and felt her face, Naruto's face. "H-h-how c-co-could this have ha-happened?" She asked in the blonde's voice.

It was then that they realized… THE SCROLL!

They immediately got up and started looking around trying to find the roll of parchment, thinking maybe there was something written on it that might explain what had happened. But when they finally looked at the spot where it had fallen, all they saw was a small pile of ashes.

"Oh no." Hinata said as she dug Naruto's hands into the ashes, and looked up at her former body. "What are we g-going to do now Naruto-kun?" she said, although she found it weird saying that now.

Naruto stood there for a moment, trying to think of a plan and then it him… or her; he was not sure of that just yet.

"We've got see Tsunade-baa-chan."

The Godaime Hokage let out a long dramatic groan as she stared at the huge pile of paperwork that was on her desk. She had been working since early this morning and still had not made a dent in the amounts she had left.

"Don't I have people to do this crap for me?" She asked her faithful assistant Shizune who was putting away the files that had already been finished.

The dark-haired women turned to Tsunade as she answered. "You do, and this is all the work that they have finished, all that is required of you is to read and sign them. If they deserve to be signed that is, after you read them for yourself."

Tsunade let out another groan "But it is all so boring, just a bunch of normal stuff. Diplomatic offers, trade agreements, mission assignments, blah blah blah. It all just becomes a blur to me after awhile. Tell me, why did I take this boring job again?"

"Because we had nowhere else to go, nothing to do, and debtors hounding after you." Shizune responded. And from her basket next to Tsunade's desk, the pig Tonton oinked her agreement. "And even though you won't admit it, you'd miss Naruto if you left."

"Oh yeah, well it could be worse I suppose." She said as she sipped her sake.

Then her desk intercom came on. "Tsunade-sama, Uzumaki Naruto and Hinata Hyuuga are here to speak to you. Shall I let them in?"

"And it just got worse." The older woman said as she pressed the button on the intercom. "Yes, send them up." Tsunade leaned back in her seat. "I swear, if that little gaki calls me Baa-chan I am going to send him through the window."

"No you're not." Shizune said as the door opened, and in stepped Naruto and Hinata.

And then something happened that Tsunade did not expect. Hinata, a girl she had so far known to be a quite and shy type walked right up to her desk and planted her hands on it firmly. "Baa-chan, we need your help." The Hyuuga said, her voice sounding very bold.

Tsunade sent a murderous glare at the Uzumaki. "Naruto have you been telling people to call me that?" And much to her surprise, Naruto flinched and looked scared, which caused Tsunade to become confused.

Hinata slammed her hands on Tsunades desk. "No, that is not Naruto. I'm Naruto and that is Hinata. We have switched bodies."

There was silence in the room.

"Alright, is this some kind of joke? Are the two of you trying to mess with me?" The lady Hokage asked.

Naruto shook his head. "No Hokage-sama, it is the truth. Naruto-kun and I have... sw-switched bodies."

That was enough to win Tsunade over, since the real Naruto would never, ever call her 'Hokage-sama'.

"Alright. Please start from the beginning." She asked.

Both the genin explained the situation, from Naruto getting the scroll to Hinata taking it as he handed it to her, and the two of them ending up in each others bodies.

Tsunade and Shizune listened to their story and when it was finished, Tsunade sat there for a moment and then got up from her chair and walked over to a pile of books. She began tossing a few of them around looking for something in particular, and while she was looking she spoke. "I have heard about this kind of thing before, because Orochimaru developed something exactly like what you have described."

"That creepy snake guy who attacked Sasuke and killed the Old Man during the Chunnin Exams?" Naruto asked in Hinata's voice.

Tsunade nodded as she looked at one book and then tossed it aside. "Yes, this was before he left the village and was still a loyal Leaf Shinobi. He had developed a type of body switching jutsu, one that could be used as a substitute for henge transformations. A Konoha ninja could hand a scroll to an enemy from another village, the two of them switch bodies and the Konoha nin goes back to the other village and gathers intel, while the other stays a captive."

"Did... did we actually do something like that?" Hinata in Naruto's body asked, her timid tone sounded so unnatural with Naruto's voice.

"I hope not, because the village council rejected the idea. The Yamanakas were deeply offended at seeing someone else try to recreate their techniques for themselves. I remember because that pale-skinned bastard was extremely pissed off. He said the council was suppressing genius and talent. Which it was, I will admit that, given how they rejected my proposal for more medic nin training. Anyway, the scroll was even designed to self-destruct once the switch had taken place so there would be no evidence left behind." She finally found the book she had been looking for, one that listed all of the information about the scroll that had been presented to the council on the day Orochimaru had presented it.

"Well, are the effects permanent?" Naruto asked, crossing his/Hinata's arms.

Tsunade flipped through several pages until she found the one that could answer the question. "Well it seems a second scroll could be used to reverse the effects, but since we don't have one readily available..." She paused while she flipped to the next page. " Aha! It says that the effects are not permanent."

Both Hinata and Naruto smiled, thinking that they would soon be able to switch back. However their happiness soon faded when Tsunade added more. "It seems to vary with each scroll how long the switch lasts without a second scroll to switch back. This was one of the reasons it was rejected. But without the actual scroll here to tell us, there's no way of knowing. You could switch back within the hour, by tomorrow morning, or… even three years."

"THREE YEARS?" Both the Uzumaki and the Hyuuga shouted in unison.

Tsunade sadly nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid it could take that long. According to this, the Sandaime Hokage, my old sensei, recorded that Orochimaru had plans to use this scroll as his way of staying young and alive forever. After all, all you have to do is get two people to touch it, and they switch bodies. Orochimaru could easily use it to take someone's body for himself and then kill off the other so there could be no switch-back."

"So does that mean that if one of them were to die then the other would be stuck like this forever?" Shizune asked, making the two genin worry.

"It's possible, but not a guarantee." Tsunade said. "Remember, Orochimaru is currently using a jutsu to take over someone else's body when he wants and keep it for three years before he needs another. Why would he do that over using these switching scrolls if he was the one who produced them? There must be some sort of flaw in the scroll's design that he didn't like and couldn't change. Maybe it's the time limit and his current method lasts longer. Or maybe... if one dies, both die."

"Why would that happen?" Naruto in Hinata's body asked.

"I don't know. There's not much written here that can confirm much. It's mostly speculation. But it does say the project was scraped and it's been proven that Orochimaru does not use the scrolls himself even though he's the one who made them. I can't say for certain what the terms and conditions of this switch are for you two. All I can say is that eventually you two will return to normal, but that can't happen if one of you dies."

Seeing their discomfort, Tsunade sighed and continued. "Look you two, I'll try my damnedest to find out everything I can to let you know what to expect of this. With any luck, you'll be back to normal tomorrow at the latest. But just in case I'm wrong, please keep to yourselves and try to help each other out. Also, I recommend not telling anyone what happened."

"But why not?" Both asked.

"Because there's more to this than either of you think." The Hokage told them. "Remember, this project was abandoned by the village and even Orochimaru. So why was a working scroll still around? Why did someone have it on them? Where did they get it from? How did they get it? Did they know what it was for? Did they plan on using it? And why was Hinata's name written on it?"

Both genin paled and looked at each other after hearing this. Naruto in Hinata's body then looked at Tsunade. "Does this mean someone may have been trying to take Hinata's body for themselves? Why would anyone do that?"

"Well she is heiress to the biggest clan in Konoha right now. Maybe they wanted to have her lifestyle or influence. Did you get a good look at the person who you bumped into?" Tsunade asked.

"No, sadly I didn't. Sakura-chan was chasing me down trying to beat my brains out so I had other things on my mind. I did see they were an adult around Kakashi-sensei's age, maybe older, and wearing white, and I think it was a woman, but I don't remember anything else."

"Well that doesn't really narrow down our list of suspects, but I suppose it's a start." Tsunade said, closing her eyes for a moment. Then she gasped and opened them again, looking frightened. "Oh crap! Naruto, did you-know-what switch too?"

"Uhh... I don't know. How do we tell?"

"Lift up your shirt." Tsunade told him/her. Naruto immediately lifted up the jacket and the shirt, but pulled them up too high and ended up showing off the bra-covered chest that originally belonged to Hinata. "Naruto, you're not a boy right now. You got to be more careful with what you show off."

Naruto meanwhile blushed. "Damn Hinata where do you hide these things?"

Hinata in Naruto's body blushed and fainted at knowing Naruto could see her chest anytime he wanted now. Too bad she didn't yet realize she meant she could now be as free with his body.

"Naruto, just because it's your body for now doesn't mean you could do whatever you want with it." Tsunade sternly told the young boy trapped in a young girl's body. And this time that wasn't a metaphor for the gender-confused.

Naruto as Hinata looked confused. "What are you talking about Baa-chan?" He sounded like he honestly didn't get what she had been implying.

"I'm saying don't take advantage of it."

"Take advantage?" Naruto asked, even more confused now.

'Is he really that simple-minded?' The slug sannin asked herself. 'Naruto... boy is it weird calling you that when you have Hinata's face. Anyway, this body, is a young girl's body, and you're a young boy. Do you have any idea what a different boy would do in your situation?" All she saw was a continued confused expression. "Most boys would go somewhere private, take off all the clothes, and look at the girl's naked body all they want. And they'd probably do more than look too."

"Why? That's just wrong and I'm no pervert." Naruto asked.

"So you're telling me you're not even a little curious to see what Hinata looks like without her clothes on?" Tsunade asked.

"No, never. I'm not a pervert!"

"But Naruto, like I said, you may be like this for a long time. How are you going to keep Hinata's body clean if you refuse to look at it?"

"I'm not a pervert!" Naruto simply repeated like that solved everything.

"I'm not saying you are. I'm just telling you a fact." Tsunade said, then out of the corner of her eye she saw Hinata in Naruto's body slowly sit back up. "What do you think would bother Hinata more? You seeing her body naked, or you refusing to take care of it until she gets it back?"

Naruto, seeing Tsunade's point, nodded his head in agreement.

"Alright then." The Hokage said as she walked back and sat down at her desk. "Now then, I suggest that the two of you start filling each other in on information, because until we get this matter straightened out, you will be living each others lives."

"Are you c-certain that's wise? Wha-what if w-we... we can't?" Hinata in Naruto's body asked.

"We have to try. Hinata, someone had access to something thought to be completely destroyed and wanted to use it against you. What do you think they'll do after they realize they no longer have it? Do you think they'll drop interest? No, they won't. If anything they may try something again. Maybe they even have a second scroll they'll try to use. So I have another order for you two, don't accept anything from ANYBODY unless it's handed to you by me or each other. And Naruto, it would be wise to tell Hinata your secret."

"What? No way Baa-chan! That's ridiculous! My own team doesn't even know!"

"Naruto, the seal didn't appear on Hinata's body, so that means you-know-what is still in yours. Do you want Hinata to find out on her own? And what if she can't control it because you didn't tell her about it?" Tsunade told him, and saw he still wasn't convinced. "If you don't, I will. But hearing it from you would be better for her."

Naruto sighed and hung Hinata's head down in shame before looking back at the girl in his rightful body. "Hinata, I don't know how to say this delicately so I'll just say it plainly. The Kyuubi wasn't killed, it was sealed away inside me. And it's still there, so now, it's inside you."

Hinata gasped. "It... it was sealed away? Inside you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sadly nodded. 'That look on her... MY face, was that how I looked when I found out?' "It's why everyone hates me and calls me a monster."

"But you're not." Hinata said, surprising Naruto. "You're no monster Naruto-kun. You're the nicest, bravest person I know. The fact that you're in my body and it isn't, only proves the two of you aren't the same thing."

"You're... you're not afraid?" Naruto asked.

Hinata shook Naruto's head. "Of you, never. The only thing I'm afraid of in this is that I won't be able to contain the Kyuubi as well as you have. I'm... I'm not st-strong, not like you Naruto-kun. I... I can't do this wi-without you."

"Yes you can Hinata. I know you can. I did it for years without knowing it and I wanted to give up many times. I know you're stronger than that." Naruto claimed, holding onto what used to be his shoulders to emphasize his point.

'Naruto-kun... thank you.' Hinata told herself before passing out from the close contact and praise.

"Hinata? Hinata? What's wrong? How can you be sick in my body? I know I wasn't." He naively asked.

'Oh boy. This is going to be fun.' Tsunade told herself.