Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Bleach
A/N: Yo! I'm xBrokenSin, and this is my newest story: The Rising Pheonix.
Maybe you've read my other story The Rising Falcon. If you have, than maybe I should give you some info on this story.
At first, this story was going to be a rewrite of Falcon, then, it was taking a different direction completely from Falcon. Then before I knew it, there was a new plot, new characters, new everything!
You could call this the brother of Falcon. They both have the same parents, Bleach and Naruto, but Falcon looks more like Bleach while Pheonix looks more like Naruto. Isn't that alot simpler?
Also, this story is much darker than Falcon. There will be more fights, death, and all that good stuff. Aren't you happy?
Don't forget to read and review!
Prologue:
Spontaneously Combust
Silence covered the entire village of Konoha in a thick blanket. The once beautiful village of the leaves now stood at only a fraction of its former glory. Brown rubble littered the dirt roads, blasted away from the defensive wall and into the village. Trees were overturned, some crashing into buildings while others lay with their roots sticking out of the ground. Stores, houses, and carts alike were either burnt by scorching fire or demolished by the weight of the great beast when it stepped on them.
The Kyuubi no Kitsune had just been defeated, and the entire village was still — as if in shock that it was finally over. After days of constant fighting and death, a terrible menace that had threatened their very existence had been defeated.
There was no joy in the victory however, for it seemed hollow.
Hundreds upon hundreds had lost their lives while even more were injured, changing their lives forever. Women were left without a husband to help raise and nurture their children, kids were left without parents; forced to fend for themselves, but the hardest hit to the village was the death of their most respected and esteemed leader — the fourth Hokage.
"Is that the demon child?"
The Sandaime Hokageof Konoha turned to get a better look at the man who spoke. The man's hair was graying and a stern frown was on his face. His eyes were dulled with a deep wariness from behind his green spectacles and the lines on his face were pronounced with fatigue. The Sandaime could bet that he looked no better.
Sandaime shifted the bundle wrapped protectively in his arms and said, "Yes. This is the container of the demon." A small hand reached out of the bundle, parting the cloth enough to reveal the pudgy face of a baby. The baby had sparkling blue eyes that regarded the old man with innocence only capable of newborn. On the small child's face were three thin whisker-like marks on either cheek. The child pulled on the old man's beard and giggled. Sandaime couldn't help but to smile. "But he is not the demon itself."
Murmurs of indignation rose from the council before him. They sat in a large room, candlelight burning in each corner. The shadows continually danced and shifted on the wall as the candles flickered, as though dancing to an invisible beat.
A man who was beginning to bald at the front scoffed and the chattering ceased to listen to what he had to say. "Whatever he is," the man said, "he should be either removed from the village or killed."
There were sounds of agreement and the Sandaime stiffened. He tightened his grip on the gurgling child slightly and killing intent began to leak from him in a rolling cloud that silenced the council effectively. "This child is the hero of this village!" There were sounds of disbelief but the increased pressure of killing intent shut them up immediately. "He bears a great burden for us all, and without him we would all be dead!" Sandaime paused to look intently at everyone in the room. Some met his gaze unflinchingly while others recoiled immediately. "The Yandaime risked his life with the Shiki Fuujin to removed the Kyuubi's soul and seal it into this child. The Yandaime's last wish was for this child to be seen as a hero, and treated as such in this village. We must honor his dying wish."
The man with graying hair sighed and removed his glasses to rub his eyes tiredly. "Be that as it may, Sarutobi," he said with such deep tiredness that the Sandaime couldn't help but feel pity, "the village will never accept him once they learn what — who he is. We can save him and everyone else a lot of grief if we were to just have him removed from this village."
Sarutobi knew that, but he had to honor the Yandaime's wish. Besides, the child had the right — if not more so than anyone else — to be a respected citizen of Konoha. He knew that the adults wouldn't make it easy on him. They would still be hurting from all of their losses, and without the Kyuubi for a scapegoat, they would find the next best thing — a defenseless child.
Just when he was about to relent to the wishes of the council, an idea struck him like a bolt of lightning. He looked down at the baby in his arms, seeming to be speaking to him more so than the elders in the room. "What if we were to make this a S-class secret punishable by law? No one is to speak of how the Kyuubi no Kitsune was truly defeated; that way, this child can still have a future with the children of the next generation of Konoha."
Leaning against the wall in a far corner, a figure stood completely unnoticed by all. Candlelight danced across the figures face, cloaking their appearance in darkness.
"Uzumaki Naruto," they drawled, seeming to test how the name rolled off their tongue. The candle flickered then, revealing an amused grin stretching across their lips.
Eight years later . . .
A lot had changed in the village of Konoha from the destruction it suffered years ago. The forest trees were thick with lush green leaves and animals that had been absent before now scurried the forest floor. The stone walls encompassing the village had been rebuilt and now stood strong and proud.
Inside the protective walls, ninja and normal civilians alike walked through the crowded streets, simply enjoying the decorations that adorned everything and completely transformed the village. Lit lanterns hung from string along almost any surface, and men and women dressed in their most extravagant kimono. Merchants haggled with picky men over the quality of their wares, adamant in the fact that the crack on the antique was supposed to be there, and children tugged impatiently on their parents arms, eager to find all the treats to be eaten and games to be played.
The sun had long since set and the full moon cast a pale glow through the village. The stars themselves twinkled merrily, as if hearted by the celebration taking place in the village below. A chilly wind blew, reminding everyone that winter was fast approaching. But that didn't stop everyone in the village from celebrating the anniversary of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's defeat. That is, except for one.
Huddled in the dark shadows cast by the narrow alleyway, a small child lay curled into a ball, his only protection from the outside world a cardboard box. His clothes were dirtied and well worn; the edges frayed and the large clothes hanging off his frame made him seem impossibly smaller. His blond hair was matted to his head in tangled knots and appeared almost brown from dirt.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the narrow alley and Naruto shivered — not from the chilly fall winds, but from bone deep fear.
Someone had tried to break into his small apartment building — again — and he had been forced to escape. He had been minding his own business, celebrating his birthday with a simple cup of ramen instead of going out to do something special to commemorate the occasion of becoming a year older.
When he was only six-years-old, his orphanage decided to go out and celebrate at the festival — which happened to take place on his birthday — and the caretakers had forced him to stay behind Wanting to celebrate the festival like the rest of the children, he decided to sneak out and attend on his own.
To put it simply, he learned that going to the Kyuubi festival was a very bad idea.
Every since then, he decided that it was not a good idea to go outside on his birthday, for some reason, people were especially vindictive for reasons he did not know.
The sound of footsteps grew louder in the narrow alley and Naruto knew he was at risk of being spotted.
Pale moonlight filtered between the two buildings and illuminated the two shadowed figures. They were obviously intoxicated judging by the way they walked and the glazed look in their eyes. They were ordinary citizens with nondescript features.
Naruto tried to draw his body inside of himself to hide better in his box. He had learned from experience that drunken villagers were usually the most violent because their inhibitions were removed from the alcohol.
One of the drunken civilians spotted him, and Naruto stiffened in fear. The villager stared directly at Naruto, his eyes squinting as he tried to focus on Naruto through his hazy vision. The other villager, who had just threw up, wiped his mouth and followed his friends gaze to see what he was looking at.
Their eyes lit up with recognition and they began to speak with each other in harsh whispers. The shock of seeing Naruto had apparently sobered them slightly. When they finished their silent discussion, they began walking toward Naruto with glares on their faces.
Naruto scrambled to his feet, knowing it wasn't a good idea to stick around. He began to run in the opposite direction, his feet strengthened with adrenalin and fear. Naruto heard the footsteps of the civilians behind him quicken into a sprint also.
Naruto cursed when he ran out of the alley and into the open street. People stopped to look at him curiously and he realized that the alley lead into a throng of people attending the festival. Naruto looked behind him to see that the two men coming closer and he made his decision.
He ran through and around people, ignoring their cries of outrage when he bumped into them. His head was lowered and his hands covered his face in the hope that no one would be able to identify him.
Because he was hardly watching where he was going, he was caught off guard when he bumped into a rather muscled leg. Naruto let out a cry of surprise as he stumbled back and fell. He quickly stood, placing his hands over his face to hide his scars.
"Hey, brat," the man said gruffly, "you okay?"
Naruto nodded mutely, trying to sidestep the man so he could get out of the crowded streets. The man — apparently taking Naruto's covered face as a sign of injury — reached out and removed Naruto's hands from his face before he could move away. "What's wrong, kid? You crying?" He crouched down and grabbed Naruto's chin in his hand. "You didn't fall that hard." He paused, his eyes darting to Naruto's whisker like marks then to his wide blue eyes.
Fear made Naruto stare like a dear caught in headlights as he waited to see what the man's reaction would be. No matter what, people always reacted badly when they found out whom he was.
Instead of letting Naruto go without a fuss like Naruto wanted, his eyes — once bright with concern — darkened in anger and disgust. He pushed Naruto away roughly and wiped his hands on his kimono as if he touched something filthy and slimy. "Get lost, demon."
Naruto landed on the ground roughly with a small sound of pain when his hands skidded over the street to break his fall. Tears of anger, sadness, and almost every other negative emotions were gathering in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
'It's always like this, no matter what I do!,' he thought, his head hung low so no one would have the satisfaction of seeing him cry.
It was true, for as long as he could remember, he was always hated. At first, Naruto thought it was something he did, but he couldn't remember ever doing anything that what make people hate him so much — except for a few minor pranks, but only on people who made him angry. Then he began to think that maybe it was something his parents had done, and they were exiled — or even executed, that would explain why he had no parents.
No matter what he did though, it just never seemed as if it was enough for anyone. Even if he did something that was worthy of attention, it was just brushed aside or downplayed. It was like a bad odor that he couldn't get rid of; no matter how many baths he took, the stench still followed him and altered people's opinion of him.
By now a crowd had formed, trying to see what was wrong. When they saw it was Naruto, concerned parents began to lead their children away while some of the braver souls stayed and tried to stir up the crowd.
Evidently it worked for people began to throw insults while the rowdier bunch threw food and drinks at him. People laughed and joked as if it were all a game, and all Naruto could do was sit and take it in silence.
Something inside of Naruto cracked.
Emotions that he had always tried to push away rose to the surface through the small fracture and Naruto had never felt so much hatred for the village of Konoha than he did at that moment. He had always told himself that to get the recognition he wanted that he would have to love Konoha and everyone in it. And after all these years, the lie that he had built for him and everyone in the village shattered.
Why shouldn't he hate them? They had never done anything for him except disrespect and ridicule him. They don't deserve his love or protection.
Naruto stood up from where he had laid, a mound of trashing forming as the items fell off his body. The villagers all fell silent and began to watch Naruto apprehensively. His head was hung low, his bangs covering his eyes that shifted from blue to purple to red like a kaleidoscope.
It's okay to hate them. They even deserve to be hated . . .
Naruto lifted his head slowly, his now red eyes glaring at the circle around him in hatred. A misty red vapor was wafting off him slowly, and Naruto didn't pay it the slightest attention.
The villagers were all staring at him in varying degrees of fear and horror; the ones who had once been brave enough to try and physically harm him now looked as if they would soil their pants.
See how pathetic they are? When you try to stand up for yourself, they lose all confidence in themselves. They feel joy in causing those weaker than them pain, but fear when those whom they thought as weaker fight back.
They were pathetic. People who could abuse a child and enjoy it deserved his hatred. They deserved worst than just his hatred.
Yes. They deserve everything you give them. They have always hated you, hurt you. So why not hurt them back?
Naruto's vision went red.