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“Did you find the dog, Naruto?” Sakura called out.
“I’m looking!” Naruto replied, searching the bushes in the forest for an old lady’s missing dog.
Crap, I’ll need more than just regular senses to find this thing.
Carefully out of Sakura and Sasuke’s view, he increased his chakra slightly until two foxlike ears poked from his head. Angling his ears around, he perked up and ran into the forest, finding the lost dog up a tree.
“Gotcha!” Naruto exclaimed as he saved the dog, who looked confused seeing fox ears on Naruto’s head.
Naruto was about to make the ears disappear when Sasuke and Naruto appeared from the bushes.
Sasuke sighed. “Oh good, dobe, you found the do-” he stopped when he noticed Naruto’s head and widened his eyes. “What the hell is that?!”
Naruto yelped in surprise. God damn it he noticed.
“N-nothing!!” he protested, trying to take the ears back.
Sakura looked on in wonder. “Wait... are those actually part of you?”
Naruto blushed profusely as he took his chakra back, shrinking his ears away. “Ugh... yeah it’s because I’m a jinchiriki... it’s a side effect or something...”
Sasuke widened his eyes. “I didn’t know jinchuriki could do that! Did you find the dog using those ears?”
Naruto just nodded, gulping and fearing their judgement.
Sakura giggled. “They’re so cute, Naruto! Is that your only side effect?”
The blond frowned. “Wait, wait.... it’s cute?!”
Sasuke crossed his arms. “Well, it’s more useful than cute in my opinion. Can you activate any other senses too? Like a tail or something?”
Naruto widened his eyes as his teammates looked on with reverence and awe at his own power and smiled.
Maybe being a jinchuriki was more cool than shameful.