The Animal I've Become

This is a challenge fic by Chewie Cookies

No, I don't own Naruto

A week had passed since they arrived at Namikaze residence. Teaching Naruto was relatively easy. He absorbed information like a sponge. They weren't sure if it was the fox or if Naruto was always this smart and he just needed to be taught properly.

Although, he learned quickly he didn't always understand what he had learned. Also Naruto didn't pay too much attention to anything when Hinata wasn't around to explain things to him. Kakashi had yet to test Naruto's abilities for combat purposes. He and Kurenai had agreed to finish normal education first before that.

Iruka had come over a few times already to help Naruto. He taught him whatever he could. The other teachers hadn't liked Iruka teaching Naruto, but he didn't care about their opinions at all.

Hinata was planting some flowering plants in the area she had set up the first day they arrived. Naruto was helping her plant things. He rather enjoyed it. Kakashi and Kurenai had taken them shopping for plants because Hinata wanted to start a small flower garden. Naruto got a lot of looks from people while he was out but he didn't seem to notice.

"Umm... Hinata-chan is this right?" Naruto asked. He was about to plant something but was just asking if this was the right spot.

Hinata smiled. "Yes that's right."

She was glad he was mostly back to normal. Naruto could talk like any other person now. Also he acted more like his old self; cheerful and had tons of energy. He was truly different in only a few different things. She was happy one of the different things about him was he liked her a lot. Also she really liked his tails. Sometimes she couldn't help but cuddle with them. Only thing she wished was that he didn't do what he saw other people doing, like grabbing someone's butt for instance.

She blushed as that event popped back into her head.

Flashback Two days ago

Naruto, Hinata, and Kurenai were off to the bath. Kurenai and Hinata were wearing bathing suits this time around. They didn't feel like having a repeat of the other days events, when Naruto stole their towels. They arrived at the bath to see Kakashi already there.

"Yo," he said with a little hand wave. His eye drifted up and down Kurenai's body.

Kurenai blushed upon noticing that he was checking her out. She got into the water and sat near Kakashi.

Naruto had been watching Hinata the whole time. He was especially fixated on her backside. The images of when Kakashi groped Kurenai flashed in his mind. His hand reached out and he gave her butt a good squeeze.

Hinata let out a cute squeak when Naruto's hand gripped her backside. Her face almost instantly turned red and she wasn't even in the water yet.

Kakashi couldn't help but laugh, that is until Kurenai smacked him upside the head.

End of flashback

"Done Hinata-chan!" Naruto said happily.

Hinata got up and smiled, Naruto had finished planting everything while she was thinking about the other day. They went inside the house to get cleaned up.

With Hiashi

Hiashi was contemplating what to do. He had been thinking of what to do with his former daughter and the demon brat. He knew she cared for that thing, but he would rather sell her to Kumo then let her stay with that thing. A figure appeared next to Hiashi in his office. He wore a dark gray outfit and a mask covered his face. The mask itself was plain, it was like an ANBU mask, but not painted.

"I hear you wish to purchase my services, Hiashi Hyuga."

"Yes I am in need of your group's services. I require your group to do two things for me."

"What might those two things be?"

"To kidnap and bring my daughter back to me, and the second would be to kill Naruto Uzumaki."

"The price will be high."

"Price does not matter just get those two things done then ask your price. I do not care of the order, kidnap or kill, either one can be done before the other."

"Time frame?"

"Twenty four hours."

"Can you do something about the ANBU?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... very well, you have yourself a deal. This would be best done during the night, so the only chance I will have is tonight."

The figure disappeared from the room, leaving Hiashi with a sinister grin on his face.

With Naruto and Hinata

A few hours had passed since Naruto and Hinata had come back in and washed up. It was six at night now. Naruto was busy looking around the house with Hinata. The house was quite large, and Naruto had yet to see it all. He and Hinata had roamed through the house until they came to a room filled with books and scrolls.

Hinata saw a section was marked as jutsu. She walked over to the scrolls and saw there was every type elemental jutsu even some scrolls on sealing jutsu. Hinata looked over at Naruto, who was busy looking at all the different things the room had to offer. She couldn't help but giggle. He looked like a small child in a candy shop.

"So this is where you two ran off to."

They both looked to see Kurenai standing in the doorway with an amused look on her face.

Naruto ran up to her with some various types of ninjutsu scrolls.

"When can we start to learn about these things?" he asked excitedly.

"Sorry, Naruto, but not for some time yet. I've already told you that and about what has to come first."

Naruto's ears went flat against his head.

"I know, but..."

"I know you want to learn things, Naruto, but we have to teach you everything. Like math, reading, writing, the differences between right and wrong, and quite a few others. Although we only have a six months to teach you what it takes most years to fully learn and understand. I hope that we will be able to knock out most of it in four months or so. Then we can get to some ninjutsu and fighting styles."

Naruto still looked rather depressed. Kurenai sighed; she knew he wanted to learn how to fight. She had talked to him about why the other day and all he said was Hinata at the time. Although that reason in itself was a good one.

"You two should head to bed in a few hours. Kakashi and I let you two play today. However, tomorrow we'll get back to your studies. If you two want to study some of these scrolls anyway, though, I won't stop you," Kurenai said then left the room.

Once Kurenai left, Naruto started going through the scrolls to find the beginner scrolls, although he really had no idea what he was looking for. He turned to Hinata.

"Umm... I don't know what I'm looking for..." he muttered.

Hinata giggled and went over to the shelf and found the chakra theory scroll.

"This was the scroll I believe you were looking for, seeing as you don't know how to mold chakra yet." Hinata explained to him.

"Umm... could you... read it..." Naruto was feeling a bit embarrassed because he couldn't exactly read all that well yet.

Hinata smiled and sat down next to Naruto. "Of course Naruto-kun I'd be more then happy to."

Naruto's tails were wagging but settled down as she started to read. His tails coiled around the two of them as she read the contents of the scroll. Hinata then explained what she was reading to him so he could understand. Hinata was blushing the whole time because of the close contact.

Kurenai was watching from out side the room. She was smiling as she watched the two of them. Kakashi was there with her. He had to admit, they looked cute like that. They watched for a time and decided to let them be and walked off to make dinner for themselves. They had already fed Naruto and Hinata but hadn't eaten for themselves yet.

Naruto was busy trying to gather chakra while Hinata instructed him. Naruto only took thirty minutes to learn how to gather chakra. The fact he was able to do it so quickly might be because his body still remembered how to.

"Hinata am I a monster?" Naruto asked. His ears were flat against his head.

"No of course, not why would you think that?"

"Well look at me I have tails and ears..."

"Naruto, you're not a monster," She replied.

"But look at me. I look like an animal."

Kurenai, Kakashi, and Hinata had talked to Naruto about what happened before, but he still didn't understand it all. Some day he would understand what happened but for now he just needed the reassurance when he got like this. Hinata hugged him and held him in her arms. That always seemed to calm him down.

"Naruto, you're not a monster or an animal. You're just different because of what we talked about before," Hinata said in a comforting tone.

Naruto seemed to relax and his tails wrapped around the both of them again.

"You'll stay with me, right Hinata?"

Hinata smiled. "Of course I will," she replied in a comforting tone. "Now why don't we try a simple transformation jutsu?"

Naruto's ears seemed to perk up at the prospect of learning how to transform into something else. Hinata got up and grabbed the scroll and sat back down and began to read it out to Naruto.

"Like this?" Naruto asked. He was wondering if he was doing the had seals correctly.

"Yes just like that. You need to mold chakra like the first scroll said to, then think of what you want to transform into."

Hinata showed Naruto the depiction of the process that the scroll showed. They spent an hour going over it. Naruto tried again and again until he finally changed. In a puff of smoke Naruto had changed into a blonde fox with nine tails. His mass was proportional to what it was in his human form. He was around five feet long, not including the tails.

Hinata touched Naruto. It wasn't a normal transformation like other people did. The transformation that Naruto had preformed seemed to truly make him into a fox. She had to admit he made a cute fox.

"How does it feel?" Hinata asked.

"Umm... not sure. It's feels familiar, I guess?" Naruto wasn't sure how to explain how it felt. However, it did feel familiar to him being in this current form. "Let's go show the others!" Naruto said happily and bolted out of them room. Hinata smiled at his enthusiasm and jogged after him.

Naruto went running through the house in his fox transformation his tails happily wagging through the air. He bolted down the halls and turned a few corners till he popped out into the living room where Kakashi and Kurenai were talking.

"Look at me!" Naruto said happily as he popped up in front of Kakashi and Kurenai.

Kurenai jumped out of her chair and landed on Kakashi. "Sweet mother of..." she began to shout.

"Kurenai, it's just Naruto," Kakashi said cutting off her mid hysteric shout.

Kurenai looked at Kakashi, and noticed she was basically on top of him. She blushed and quickly got off of him. Hinata soon popped into the room.

"Naruto-kun, you shouldn't scare people like that," she said, scolding him.

"Well, I didn't mean to," Naruto replied. His ears went flat against his head and his tails stopped wagging.

"I know," Hinata said in a sweet tone and patted his head. "Just try to remember it for later, alright?"

Naruto just nodded.

"How can he learn the transformation jutsu so quickly?" Kurenai asked.

"Even though he has lost his memories maybe his body can still remember those things. Making it easier for him to relearn," Kakashi answered.

They talked a bit more about the issue until they heard Hinata make a startled squeak. They looked to see Naruto in his fox transformation snuggling into Hinata's breasts. Naruto suddenly turned back into his human form. He wrapped his arms around her and snuggled into her chest more.

"Hinata smells nice!"

Naruto wasn't able to help himself anymore. He had been controlling the urge he had all day. He really did like snuggling with Hinata. And she really did smell nice. Hinata passed out moments after Naruto turned back into his human form. Naruto noticed and looked at her with concern, then looked at Kakashi and Kurenai, who were chuckling.

"She's alright, Naruto. Go take her to your room and let her rest. She'll be back up in a short while," Kurenai stated.

Naruto picked her up bridal-style and walked up the stairs to his room. After arriving back in his room, he used his tails to move the sheets, before laying Hinata down on the bed. Naruto just looked at her sleeping form before he hopped onto the bed as well. He was kind of tired. Naruto laid down next to Hinata, using his tails to move the blankets over the two of them.

Hinata, in her sleep, wrapped her arms around Naruto as she often did when they went to sleep. She snuggled up against Naruto, her head on his chest. Naruto always felt so relaxed around Hinata. Naruto soon fell asleep, happy as could be.

Later that night, on the grounds of the Namikaze Estate

Three men wearing black cloaks had managed to enter the grounds undetected. One of them motioned to the other two, and the two other men nodded, heading to the front entrance while the other one scaled the house, looking in different windows in search of his target.

With Naruto and Hinata

Naruto sighed happily, with Hinata curled up against his chest. They both had smiles on their faces, and Hinata sported a cute blush as well. Stirring awake, Naruto nuzzled affectionately against Hinata's head. A soft clacking noise had woken him, and he reluctantly left Hinata's side to investigate. Sensing that the noise was coming from the window, he went over and fiddled with the latch, opening it. Suddenly, he was yanked out, and a man passed him, entering the room through the window.

Snarling as he fell to the ground, he got back up as soon as he hit the ground, and his eyes widened in alarm when he heard Hinata scream. Almost as soon as he heard that, the man leaped out through the window, carrying Hinata in a bundle made of the blankets. Naruto roared and shot after him, not even bothering to wonder why Kakashi and Kurenai hadn't come to aid him yet. He chased the man through the village, drawing closer and closer as the chase continued, and gaining the attention of several passersby.

Naruto soon caught up with the man and pounced on him, snarling. He got Hinata away from him and leapt back, cradling the girl gently in his arms. "Hinata okay?" he asked, concerned. Hinata was shivering like a frightened rabbit, but as soon as she realized she was in her crush's arms, she smiled up at him.

Naruto had not missed the fear that had been in her eyes for a moment, and decided that the would-be kidnapper would pay. He gently set Hinata down, and stood before her protectively as their attacker recovered and rushed at the young hanyou, who snarled and leaped to meet him midway.

The assassin couldn't seem to shake Naruto, as his claws dug deep in his skin and he had a good grip with them. He tore at the kidnapper, until finally, the man knocked Naruto away. Sadly, this only hastened his inevitable death. Naruto stabbed four of his tails into the ground and, in the blink of an eye, blasted a tiny ball of red chakra straight through the chest of the assassin, leaving him dead. The chakra bullet sped into the sky, going a great distance, and exploding in a brilliant flash of light.

It was when a beer rock hit his leg that Naruto noticed all the villagers shouting at him, looking for things to throw at him. He also noticed Hinata, trying to get past a few of them to get to him, but the mob didn't seem too happy to let her near him. Finally, she decided enough was enough, and thrust her palms at several peoples' stomachs, getting them to back off and let her through. On edge from the events that had just taken place, Naruto growled at the villagers, not realizing Hinata was hugging him until he felt her tears on his face.

Quickly, Naruto stopped growling, realizing that something was wrong with Hinata. He began rubbing his face against hers, wrapping his tails around her protectively as she whispered soft, soothing words into his ear. The villagers were stunned for a moment, but before they could regain themselves, Sarutobi appeared with a group of his personal ANBU.

"Everybody calm down! Return to your homes, or I will place you all under arrest!" the Sandaime announced. Not willing to try the patience of the God of Shinobi, the mob dispersed, and everybody went home, leaving Naruto sitting on the ground while nuzzling Hinata. Kakashi and Kurenai appeared seconds later, carrying a pair of unconscious and restrained men.

With Hiashi

Hiashi had watched the whole event play out. He wouldn't have to worry about killing the other two men, because they knew nothing. He had watched the leader the entire time. The only thing he had told the other two was that they had a job.

"I should have hired more," Hiashi muttered.

Hiashi sat there in his office debating what to do now. He would never allow his daughter to stay with that thing. However, at the moment, there was little he could do about the situation.

Back in the village

Naruto still had his tails wrapped around himself and Hinata. He had not let anyone come close to her. Every time someone had, Naruto's tails would lash out at them. Naruto was afraid, afraid that someone would take her away again.

"Naruto-kun, please, they're not going to hurt me," Hinata said softly, trying to console him.

"No, they just want to take Hinata away from me again." Naruto had some tears in his eyes as he spoke. Naruto's ears were flat against his head.

"Shhhh, it's alright Naruto-kun. They won't take me away," Hinata cooed, rubbing Naruto's ears in an attempt to calm him.

"But I don't want Hinata to leave me."

"Naruto-kun, I told you I wasn't going to leave you. Let's go back home, alright?"

Naruto picked Hinata up bridal style and started to walk in the direction of the mansion. His tails were waving in the air in a protective manor. Hinata didn't mind. She just blushed, wrapped her arms around his neck, and laid her head against his chest.

"Kakashi, please go with them and make sure there is no one else lying in wait," Hiruzen stated. Hiruzen turned to Kurenai Yuhi. "Kurenai, please tell me what exactly happened."

Kakashi nodded and walked after Naruto and Hinata. Kurenai stood there and explained what little she actually knew of what had just occurred.

At the Namikaze mansion

Naruto was being extremely affectionate at the moment, snuggling with Hinata and not letting her more than six inches from him. Hinata could tell he was very distressed by all that had happened. Hinata couldn't do anything other then try and comfort him right now.

The two of them were currently on Naruto's bed. Hinata sat there as Naruto had his head in her lap. At first, she was a bit embarrassed, but soon realized Naruto wasn't himself. Hinata just patted his head gently, trying to comfort him.

Kakashi was watching the two from the doorway.

"Is he alright?" Kurenai asked.

"I'm not sure. It might be a few days until he's back to normal," Kakashi replied.

Kurenai sighed. "I'm no Nara, but I have to say, this is going to be very troublesome. At least this will help them get closer. Kami knows they both deserve to be happy with each other," she said.

Kakashi nodded. "We should probably leave them alone for now. They'll be okay without us tonight," he said, and the two of them left.

Soon enough, Naruto and Hinata grew tired again. As they lied down to go to sleep, Naruto wrapped his arms around Hinata, using his tails to make a cocoon of sorts to shield them from the world around them.

Naruto locked eyes with Hinata, a serious look on his face. "I won't let anybody hurt you, Hinata-chan. And if anybody does, they'll pay for it," he growled out softly, then pulled her against him, causing her to blush deeply.

"Does this... does this mean he loves me?" she wondered, then closed her eyes and whispered, "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

Shortly after, they fell asleep, feeling warm and safe in each other's arms...

End Chapter

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