Author's Note: This idea has been floating in my head and would not leave me alone until I got down to write it. This story is of course, about a gender-bent Uzumaki Naruto. Uzumaki Natsumi, in this case. The main point of this fanfic is to explore what I think it would be like if Naruto was a girl to begin with. I know most fanfics with gender-bent Naruto have her identity and gender sealed away and either have her know about it or not. I wanted to try a different path.

I won't hide her identity or gender. There are no mob attacks or abuse other than social isolation. There are no councils. Her relationships with the Konoha 11 and Sasuke will be changed. Some drastic, some minor, some with no changes. If you see the pairing, it will be obvious just which characters I will be focusing on the most. I will align it with canon to the best of my knowledge and the differences between this fanfic and canon will be listed and explained at the end of each chapter. I will most likely not use anime fillers for this fanfic. If I do, I will let you readers know. So for now, please enjoy this prologue!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto at all. I won't repeat myself. This should be obvious the first time you see it.

***Break Line***

For as long as she could remember, 8-year-old Uzumaki Natsumi knew she was never liked by the villagers of Konohagakure. She was a citizen herself, but no-one ever liked her. The only people she knew that cared for her could be counted on one hand. The reinstated Third Hokage, one of the people that cared for her, had advised her to take the career path of a ninja since he knew about her troubles. That was fine because she dreamed of becoming a ninja in the first place. She wanted to be a great Hokage just like her idol, the deceased Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato. More importantly, by becoming Hokage, she would get all the acknowledgement she ever wanted from the villagers.

When she was first enrolled into the Ninja Academy, she was rotated between so many classes simply because the teachers did not want her in their class. In retaliation for the blatant dislike when teachers were supposed to be fair, she pranked each and every teacher simply to get out of their classes. Hey, that got them to pay attention to her. That was good enough. It was not until a rookie teacher named Umino Iruka was assigned to her class. Despite being pranked as well, he had chosen not to take action and simply told Natsumi to return to her seat. By not getting told to stand outside for punishment or such, she felt she was once again being ignored. It took some time for Natsumi to notice, but she eventually realized Iruka was the only teacher that actually attempted to be fair to her, even for punishments. That raised him really high in her books. She was glad and relieved he would be their primary instructor throughout their years studying in the Academy.

***Break Line***

On a seemingly normal day after class, Natsumi was surprised when someone called her name just outside the Academy. Turning to look and see just who it was, she noticed a girl just as small as her jogging towards her. Natsumi tended not to remember stuff she deemed unimportant, such as the names of her classmates, so she did not recognize the girl that approached her.

"Is there something you want with me?" Natsumi asked. She may not recognize the girl, but she was happy that someone chose to even speak with her without her doing something to them first.

"I... I want to thank you for saving me that day!" the girl bowed deeply towards her.

"I... saved you?" Natsumi did not recall saving any... Oh! Now she remembered! She had stopped three bullies from picking on somebody just a few days ago. She believed she failed since she had been knocked out, and subsequently pushed that incident to the back of her mind. "You're that girl!"

"Yes!" the girl piped up with a shy but happy smile. "Um... I'm Hyuuga Hinata. We're in the same class. It's a pleasure to meet you!" Hinata introduced herself in a formal manner and bowed again.

"I'm Uzumaki Natsumi! Nice to meet you too!" Natsumi returned the formal greeting with a very informal one, sounding almost rude. No-one could really blame her since she was never treated with any sort of formality in her life. Before anything else can be said, her stomach grumbled loudly. That gave Hinata something to work with.

"Ah, here!" she almost shoved her bag towards Natsumi. "You can have my lunch, if you don't mind..."

"Really?" a huge smile broke out on her face. When Hinata nodded, she nearly whooped in joy. "Thanks a lot! It's a huge help!" They settled down near the tree with the swing and unpacked her lunch box. Natsumi took a bite and finding the taste wonderful, began shoveling the rest of the food into her mouth.

"You must be really hungry if you're eating like that..." Hinata commented, a little put off by the way she was eating.

"Hmm?" Natsumi swallowed. "No, not really. I can hold on for longer until I can get to my usual place where I have my dinner. It's just that your food is really delicious!"

"Thank you very much... though I'm not the one who made it..." a delighted blush appeared on Hinata's face.

"That was great! Thanks for the food, Hinata-chan! You're the first friend who offered to share food with me!" Natsumi thanked her.

"Friend...?" she mumbled.

"Yeah! Actually, you're my very first friend my age, so that makes you my best friend! What do you say, Hinata-chan?"

"Yes, of course! We're friends now, Natsumi-san," Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Nope, you're not!" Natsumi frowned. "Best friends don't call each other '-san'. Try again," she teased the shy girl with a foxy smile.

"S-Sorry, Natsumi-chan!" Hinata gave a shy but very bright smile. This time, Natsumi really did whoop in joy and hugged her new best friend whose face exploded into crimson with the physical interaction. She quickly got over her blush and returned the hug she felt was so desperate for acceptance. Hinata had been watching Natsumi every day until this day and she knew how hard and painful her childhood had been up till now. In return, she had been drawing strength from her. Even with nothing to rely on, she still never gave up on herself or in her dream. Greatly inspired by that, she too decided that she would try her best to grow strong and to never give up so she could be acknowledged by her family. But for now, the two new best friends had each other to help them through their respective predicaments.

The next day in class, Natsumi was quick to seek out Hinata and rushed to the unoccupied seat to her, giving a boisterous morning greeting to her new best friend. Their classmates that were present before she arrived snapped their heads to their direction, shock and wonder written on their faces. How in the world did the loudest student and the quietest student suddenly get along? Since the start of the Academy over a month ago, they had never spoken to each other even once. Just when did they become friends with each other without anyone noticing anything? Hinata's face turned bright red when she saw everyone staring at the two of them but nonetheless returned a warm morning greeting to Natsumi. A smile broke out automatically on her face when Natsumi's face brightened up like the sun.

***A month later***

Iruka was very surprised to see just how fast Hinata and Natsumi grew so close together. They were inseparable whenever they were in the Academy together to the point Hinata made lunches just for Natsumi everyday so that she would not leave Academy grounds without permission to eat at the Ichiraku ramen stand. He had thought them sitting together was a one time occurrence but quickly corrected that thought when he saw them sitting together everyday since then. It was something he was glad for since Hinata kept Natsumi from getting too rowdy in class and at the best of times, actually managed to get her to pay attention to his lessons even if her eyelids were constantly drooping. Hinata was still as quiet as a mouse but he could often hear them whispering to each other no thanks to Natsumi. When he called them out on it, Natsumi was very quick to deflect blame away from Hinata. It did not take anyone with a genius intellect to see how protective the loud prankster was of her best friend.

Besides getting Natsumi to behave relatively better, Iruka often spotted the two of them staying behind in class. Discreetly observing them on one occasion, he was surprised to see Hinata actually coaching Natsumi on how to read and write. From marking their homework, he did see a gradual improvement in Natsumi's handwriting and grammar. The only thing he was peeved about was how Natsumi was able to give Hinata her complete attention without any trouble or loss of focus. Why couldn't she do that for him? Sighing in slight exasperation, he allowed himself a small smile as he was happy to see such bright smiles on his two admittedly favorite students.

***Three months later***

Hinata had always kept her hair neatly cut in a hime-cut style, so she took notice of Natsumi's growing hair. The first time she saw her hair, it was cut roughly like a boy's. Now, her hair had smoothed itself out as it got longer and reached her shoulders. On a random impulse, Hinata started to play and weave her fingers through Natsumi's hair. It was so soft and silky that she often found herself very tempted to play with it for long periods of time. Natsumi never minded since Hinata looked so happy to play with it.

Natsumi, on the other hand, did not understand what Hinata found so fun about playing with her hair. When she asked, she replied that it was soothing for her and helped her relax. When Natsumi suggested Hinata do the same so she could try it out for herself, Hinata sadly shook her head. She explained that in the Hyuuga clan, most of her clan members grew their hair out as tradition. It was akin to a symbol to show their strength. She admitted that in her family's eyes, she was considered weak. Even her 3-year-old little sister Hanabi was stronger than her. She decided that until she could prove she was strong enough in her family's eyes, she would not grow her hair out.

Natsumi was furious when she heard that, loudly protesting that the clan members who failed to see just how great and strong Hinata was were just plain stupid. Natsumi trained hard to make sure she could one day be strong enough to make her dream of being Hokage come true, and she knew firsthand just how hardworking Hinata was. They were always training together if Hinata could spare the time outside of her own clan training, and she trained just as hard as Natsumi did. It was no secret between the two of them that Natsumi always lasted longer but Hinata would always push herself to her limits to try and keep up with her.

Hinata pleaded with her not to do anything reckless towards her clan or pull any pranks on any of the clan members. Natsumi gave her word reluctantly, since she was more than eager to prove to them how wrong they were. No matter how tempting the urge was, she was never going to break her word. A promise made was a promise kept, especially when it was a promise to Hinata. She would never go back on her word as that was her ninja way. In exchange for her promise, Natsumi declared that she would grow her own hair out really long for the both of them. Hinata was shocked and insisted she did not have to go through with it but she would have none of it. She said that her hair would represent just how much she believed in Hinata and herself and that they would one day succeed in making their dreams and hopes a reality. Hinata was so touched by her best friend's words that she broke down crying and gave her a huge hug, promising that she would work even harder not to let them both down.

***A year later, age 9***

Hinata had gotten worried when Natsumi's hair had grown so long it started to pool around her feet even when she was standing straight up. It did not help that they were the two smallest people in their class. She was worried that someone would take advantage of her hair during sparring sessions, and that fear was all but inevitable. Natsumi had declared Uchiha Sasuke, the top student in their class, as her rival some time ago when they first sparred together. In another sparring session, Sasuke was not hesitant to grab her hair and use it against her. As a result, her hair got damaged and was ripped harshly like a hand-torn paper. Natsumi was clearly distraught over it as Hinata knew how important it was for her.

However, since that day, Natsumi never turned up to the Academy. After a week of absence, a worried Iruka entrusted Hinata to look for Natsumi and gave her her address. He allowed her to leave class midday to help figure out what was wrong with the blonde girl. Quickly finding the shoddy apartment Natsumi lived in, Hinata went to the designated door and knocked politely.

"Natsumi-chan? Please open up. It's me, Hinata," Hinata spoke up. She had gotten so worried for her best friend that her own studies were getting affected.

"...Come in, Hinata-chan. It's open," Natsumi replied weakly and without any hint of emotion.

Hinata gently entered and was horrified to see locks of blonde hair haphazardly strewn all over the floor. Natsumi was sitting in a miserable wreck in the middle of it all with her hair utterly ruined.

"Natsumi-chan, are you alright? What happened?" Hinata ran to her friend and checked her for any sign of injuries. Fortunately, there were none. She did see a pair of scissors nearby. Taking a closer look at Natsumi's hair, she could tell that she had tried to fix the damage done by Sasuke. She apparently could not get it right and it only got worse the more she tried to cut. "Natsumi-chan..."

"...Sorry, Hinata-chan," Natsumi whispered. "I tried to fix it, I really did... But..." Tears of frustration dripped down from her eyes. "I couldn't protect my promise to you... I'm sorry, Hinata-chan..." Instead of any negative actions she expected Hinata to do, she felt Hinata wrap her arms around her in a hug.

"It's okay, Natsumi-chan. You didn't break your promise. I know you still believe in me. That's all that matters, so it's okay," Hinata comforted her best friend who had suddenly felt so small and fragile in her hands.

"Hinata-chan..." Now the tears turned into those of relief and joy as she returned the hug.

"Are you feeling better now?" Natsumi nodded as she wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "Should we clean up your home? I don't mind helping."

"You're really the best friend anyone can ask for, Hinata-chan!" Natsumi dived in for another hug, rubbing her cheeks against Hinata's own like an affectionate kitten. Hinata's face quickly turned red from embarrassment and it took some time for her to get rid of the light-headed feeling that suddenly appeared.

They started cleaning up all the hair and whatever mess that had been lying around at the time before Hinata noticed something. Looking more carefully now that most of the hair had been swept away, Natsumi's house was full of dirt and dust. It was not necessarily messy, but the house just did not seem clean. Turning to look at her, she realized Natsumi had little idea how to do proper housework. Oddly, a fond smile came to Hinata's face. That was just like her.

"When we're done, I'll fix your hair for you, Natsumi-chan. It seems you need some remedial on keeping your home clean," Hinata giggled softly into her hands.

"You're a real life-saver, you know that Hinata-chan?"

There. The smile as bright as the sun. Hinata loved seeing that smile on Natsumi's face and hoped it would never disappear. After fixing her hair, Natsumi's hair was once again shoulder-length. Hinata showed Natsumi how to properly do household chores. Back at the Hyuuga compound, Hinata made an effort not to rely on the Branch House servants and learned how to at least clean her own room. Hinata promised to visit once a week to monitor Natsumi as she cleaned her home and would lend her a helping hand if necessary until she was able to do it on her own without any troubles.

On one of her visits, the topic of laundry came up. Apparently, Natsumi had a habit of not washing her clothes until she had worn every clean one. Her washing machine had broken down so she was stuck without any clean clothes to wear and asked to borrow some of Hinata's clothes. Hinata had no problems with lending them but did give her a small non-chiding lecture of how she should wash her clothes regularly instead of only once in a long time. What horrified Hinata was that Natsumi never wore any panties at all! Instead, she had worn boxers as her undergarment of choice for her entire life. She claimed that she never knew what panties were. She thought everyone wore the same undergarments. Seeing how panicked Hinata was as she tried to explain how unhealthy it was to the female hygiene, Natsumi promised she would get herself some panties. It was not a pleasant experience for the resident blonde due to the inherent tightness of the 'proper' undergarment as Hinata encouraged her on.

***Six months later***

Natsumi's hair was once again growing too long and knowing the importance it held for her, Hinata suggested that she tie her hair. To her surprise, Natsumi did not know how to do so. For the last year and a half, she had seen the hairstyles of their female classmates that had their hair tied and it puzzled her as to how their hair turned out the way they did. Hinata sweat-dropped when she somehow arrived at the conclusion it was some type of jutsu. Hinata took it upon herself to teach Natsumi how to tie her hair. Secretly though, she was very happy since she got to play with that soft and beautiful hair even more.

Natsumi eventually settled for twintails, a pair of ponytails tied at opposite sides of her head. It helped to drastically shorten the impractical length of hair to more manageable waist-length hair. She became even more determined now as she claimed the twintails represented their bond of friendship. If her entire hair symbolized their beliefs in each other and their dreams, then her twintails symbolized their separate person connected to an inseparable bond formed by their beliefs. Tears of joy sprung to Hinata's eyes as she was so overjoyed that Natsumi would never stop believing in her. It did not matter if her own father deemed her useless. All she needed to keep going was Natsumi's undying support for her.

Hinata wanted to do more for Natsumi, but she claimed that Hinata had already done something for her that she would never be able to repay even with her own life. Hinata had saved her from the hell of loneliness by being her friend. Natsumi had been so alone in the first few years of her life, always being resented and ostracized by the villagers. Even though the Hokage and the Ichiraku father-daughter pair did not shun her, they had more important duties to do. That sense of loneliness never faded away and it was only until Hinata came into her life that she finally saw a light of hope. Hinata was the beacon that shined with that light. Without Hinata, Natsumi admitted she was unsure of how far and how long she would have lasted. Just for being a friend, Natsumi was eternally grateful. The two best friends embraced one another, drawing strength from each other as they promised to always be there for each other for as long as they lived.

***Three years later, age 12***

Their final year in the Academy had just begun as well as their transition into teenagers. Among all the girls in their class, Hinata and Natsumi were the first two to hit puberty. Their breasts were starting to develop as well as the start of their monthly periods. Quite embarrassed that her figure was clearly developing faster than any other girl with Natsumi being a close second, Hinata started wearing a huge cream-colored hooded jacket to hide her growth. Natsumi was already wearing her over-sized orange tracksuit that she got some months ago that hid her growing figure. While Natsumi never paid any thought to her figure or intended to hide it in the first place, she was amused when Hinata had gotten a jacket too and decided she wanted to match clothing styles. She discarded the orange pants that was originally paired with her tracksuit and wore the same blue pants that Hinata wore.

Hinata had prior warning to this period of growth but Natsumi had no idea what puberty even was, only knowing it was when their body changed from a child to an adult, which did not explain anything at all. Hinata had to introduce bras to Natsumi, an additional piece of undergarment exclusively for females. When Natsumi made a sour face at having to wear another piece of unwanted clothing, Hinata had to drive home the fact that it was a must for her own good. There was the alternate option of a mesh shirt which Natsumi wanted, but she ended up sulking in comical despair when Hinata told her it was even worse to wear it if she did not get used to wearing a bra first.

The shocker came in the fact that Natsumi was not prepared at all for her periods. Once again she had no idea what they were, only being told it was something all females had to go through. It did not help matters one bit when she only just found out about Natsumi's utter lack of knowledge about puberty by said blonde screaming to Iruka for help in front of the entire class that she was bleeding to death by being assaulted in the nether regions when she was unaware. The heavily blushing man immediately delegated the duty of explaining what was happening to her to Hinata, only telling her that she had not been attacked in any manner.

Just in case, Hinata asked for whatever information Natsumi knew about feminine body care. She felt terrible for not realizing her best friend knew so very little. Determined to help her, she did her best to educate Natsumi on the subject. Hinata's face burned with embarrassment the entire time she had to properly explain just what puberty did to a female's body and how to care for it, including the sensitive parts. She had never seen Natsumi go so pale before when she was told she would bleed from the nether regions and suffer cramps once a month for many, many years to come. She nearly burst out laughing but managed to turn it into unrestrained giggles when Natsumi got to her knees and hugged her midsection, begging with tears pooling in her eyelids for Hinata to 'save' her from the monthly tortures, which was impossible. It took a few days for the fact to fully sink in and for her to accept it was a part of nature.

As for the rest of the year until it was time for graduation, it was a tense wait for both best friends as that truly marked the starting point to their dreams... and the first step was to be a ninja.

***End of Chapter***

Differences

The first meeting between Hinata and Naruto.

Canon: Hinata never gets to talk to Naruto and doesn't approach him again for the rest of their Academy years.

My version: My opinion of that scene is that Hinata hesitated a bit too long to catch Naruto's attention and was no longer able to bring up the courage to speak to him again. Here, she does not hesitate speak to Natsumi. My reasoning? They are both girls. Same gender. Boys find it easier to mix around with boys. Same goes for girls. It's a natural thing.

Natsumi is OOC for being a gender-bent Naruto.

Canon: Naruto doesn't have any close friends that really pays attention to him. Kiba, Chouji and Shikamaru are, at the time in the Academy, simply casual friends. Hinata never approaches him at all during that time.

My version: Remember, in this story, Hinata has already become friends with Natsumi. Hinata took the first step in wanting to be friends with her. For being a social outcast, this means an incredible lot for Natsumi. Hinata has already been inspired by and admires Naruto/Natsumi ever since her rescue and has never forgotten it. Natsumi already considers Hinata her best friend, and will do anything to keep that bond intact. Hinata empathizes with Naruto/Natsumi's harsh childhood, and so will do whatever she can to lessen that pain.

The absence of the aforementioned trio.

Canon: Read above.

My version: Natsumi already has Hinata. To Natsumi, Hinata is at the center of everything. With no family, Hinata is the next best thing. Simply by being her first and best friend, Natsumi pays the most attention to her. It's unmentioned, but they are civil with her, the same they do with Naruto.

Natsumi's hair troubles.

Canon: Naruto does not have any problems concerning his hair.

My version: Naruto has short, spiky hair. If it grows long, even a random cut job can make it back to what it looks like. Natsumi wants to grow long hair, so a random cut job will ruin it. As for the twintails, Naruto uses a Henge for it, Natsumi doesn't. Naruto doesn't need to learn how to tie his hair. Natsumi has never tied her hair before, and Hinata teaches her how to.

Natsumi's hygiene troubles.

Canon: Naruto does not have any problems concerning his hygiene.

My version: Keeping a girl's hygiene clean is harder than a guy's. Concerning the undergarments, I used the thought that Natsumi uses boy's clothes simply because it's easier to imitate a boy's style. Anyone can imitate t-shirt and pants and look perfectly fine. A blouse and skirt? Definitely not.

Natsumi's home troubles.

Canon: Naruto does not have any problems concerning his home.

My version: Naruto could have learned through trial and error over the years how to maintain his home. Before Natsumi can learn through trial and error, Hinata has already given her help and taught her how to maintain her home's cleanliness.

Natsumi's puberty troubles.

Canon: Not mentioned.

My version: A boy barely needs to do anything to adjust to puberty. A girl needs a lot of adjusting. Being an orphan, just who is going teach Natsumi what to do when puberty comes by? Some might say the Academy teachers, but there isn't any confirmation whether the kunoichi classes actually go through puberty for girls. For all we know, it might just be boiled down to 'common sense' and expected for all kunoichi hopefuls to already know what to do.

Appearance.

Canon: Orange tracksuit and orange pants.

My version: Natsumi will be wearing Naruto's orange tracksuit but instead of the orange pants, she will be wearing Hinata's blue pants. Easy to picture, yes?

***Break Line***

That's all for now. Do kindly leave behind a review to let me know if I'm on the right track or you can leave behind suggestions so I work around with them if it fits with what I'm planning to do with this story.