Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine.
Chūdoku Sakura no Naruto: Ascending
Prologue
Three days had passed since Konoha had been attacked. And for the newly reinstated Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, it had been three days of Hell. Strangely enough while most of his woes would have thought to have been caused by the fifty foot tall fox that decimated the village, you would have only been half right.
A small baby born just moments before the attack, just an innocent child that had never done anything to harm anyone. He wasn't even capable of supporting his own head, let alone causing harm to anyone. But it was unfortunately this exact fear that was causing all of Hiruzen Sarutobi's troubles. For the child was not an ordinary three day old boy. This was a jinchuuriki, the host to the very same fifty foot fox demon that had just devastated the village.
"Hello, Sarutobi-sensei, you look like you have seen better days" came a voice from a nearby window from where the Sandaime Hokage was sitting.
"Jiraiya-kun, you are a sight for sore eyes, it has been hell around here. I am missing being retired already" Hiruzen said.
"So he did it after all, I was hoping the stories I heard were false information. Why did he have to use the Shiki Fūin, there were other ways to seal a bijū" Jiraiya said sadly.
"Is that why you returned, just to see if the rumors of Minato's demise were accurate, nothing more?" Hiruzen asked.
"Well yes and no. Minato's son, Naruto where is he?" Jiraiya questioned.
"Ah the boy, he is safe and healthy, he seems to be happy most of the time, just like his mother. But he looks so much like his father already" Hiruzen
said.
"I guess I have to take up my role as godfather and stay here with him now, or I could take him with me, either way is fine" Jiraiya said solemnly.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that Jiraiya-kun" the Sandaime said.
"What! Why not?" Jiraiya demanded.
"Several reasons, for one I need you to look after your spy network, we need it more than ever at the moment and even more so in the future. Secondly if Iwa found out you were looking after a child they would know who it was straight away, why do you think they gave him Kushina's last name, Uzumaki. Don't worry about the boy Jiraiya-kun, I will make sure he is safe here in the village" the Hokage said with a smile.
"Can I at least see him once before I have to go? Can you allow me that?" Jiraiya asked.
"Of course you can, strange I didn't quite picture you as the fatherly type Jiriaya-kun, just goes to show just how much I still don't know about you" Hiruzen said with a smile.
Hiruzen left the comfort of his desk and signaled Jiraiya to follow him. They walked until they came to a room with the door slightly ajar.
"He's in here, but be ready for what you're about to see" Hiruzen said quietly getting and intrigued expression from his student.
They quietly entered the room so as not to wake the boy, but he was already awake.
"Three lines on each cheek that look like whiskers, is this the sign that he is a jinchūriki? Kushina never had them, but then again her seal was different wasn't it" Jiraiya said.
"No from what we can gather, those marks were there before the sealing. So they are only birthmarks if I was to have a guess I would say it was because his mother held the Kyūbi when he was born" Hiruzen said.
It was at that moment Naruto yawned and gazed up into Jiraiya's eyes earning a shocked look from the Sage.
"Would you look at that! Those eyes!" the Toad Sage exclaimed paying careful attention to the baby's eyes. Both a mixture of the deepest blue, but throwing a little of fucsia making and interest mixture in the blond's irises.
"I don't know if that is the Kyūbi's doing or a new dōjutsu never seen before" said the old teacher to his student.
"It could be the Kyūbi's influence" Jiraya said with his eyes closed in deep thought. "And I'm sure its not a dōjutsu, I don't feel any concentration of chakra in the eyes" he finally said looking at the older man.
"I know but to have such eye color is very rare unless the person posses a dōjutsu" answered Hiruzen in deep thought. "So what do you think it might be?" asked in a calm tone not to draw more of the baby's attention.
"It's very hard to say right" answered Jiraya equally calm. "I need to look more into this before I give you a good answer".
"Very well" Hiruzen said resigned to lack any knowledge of his succesor's son situation.
"Don't worry sensei you'll be the first one to get the news of any findings about little Naruto's problem... whatever that might be" Jiraya said watching Naruto's other features. "Oh I think his hair is already becoming spiky like Minato's" Jiraiya said looking down at the boy. "I bet you're going to be a great ninja one day kid, I will be back when you're older so don't go getting too strong without me" Jiraiya said, a small smile crossed his face and he went into his pocket and withdrew a small green wallet that looked like a toad, and placed it in the crib next to the tiny blond.
"A wallet? Interesting present to give to a baby" the Hokage laughed.
"Maybe, but I wanted to give him something that he could use later in life as well. Anyway, have they rebuilt the bath houses yet" Jiraiya asked changing his tone from serious to that of a super pervert.
"No not yet sorry Jiraiya-kun, you are going to have to wait to do your research I am afraid. It is a shame too because that book you brought out was brilliant what did you call it? Icha Icha? You could make a killing if you turned it into a series" said a blushing Hiruzen.
"Maybe you are right, my last book didn't really sell many but this one is selling like nothing else" Jiraiya said.
"Is there anything else you would like while you are still in the village?" Hiruzen asked.
"No, I should be on my way, if I have to leave I better just get it out of the way now. Keep the kid safe sensei, I do not want to have to face Kushina when I die if Naruto gets there before me. Oh and I am sorry to hear about your wife" Jiraiya said and just like that he was gone.
(7 years later)
Peace...
That was all he felt as he sat under the sakura trees in a very secluded clearing in Konohagakure no Sato right behind the Hokage monument.
He didn't know what it was, but every time he came to this place, it was as if all his worries flew right out of the proverbial window into another universe.
It was so unlike what he faced out there in the real world with the villagers along with all the glares and looks of indifference every time he walked on the main street. Even the other kids his age didn't talk to him, so he would just go to a secluded place in the park, sitting alone on a swing while watching the other kids play. In the past, he attempted to join them, but they always said they were not allowed to play with him.
Naruto lifted his head to look at the sky above; it was getting dark already.
Better go back before I get caught, Naruto thought while finally standing from his kneeling position. He then walked out of the clearing to head right into a system of underground tunnels that stretched all across the mountain.
The blond boy travelled the path leading to Konoha, the entrance to the tunnels located right next to the door of the Hokage's burial chambers.
When he finally exited the tunnels, he crouched carefully, hiding behind the bushes to avoid alerting any of the guards posted there protecting the chamber, with great stealth earned from doing these types of activities.
He reached the streets of the red light district without being noticed in record time. He waved and got one back in response from one of the pretty ladies walking in circles on the corners of the buildings between the alleys as the shadows covered their presence from unwelcome parties. His jiji never did tell him why the ladies were out so late at night. He always received a chuckle and a dismissive wave of the hand telling him he still was too young to understand.
Climbing the stairs leading to an apartment that has seen better days, the seven-year-old, nearly eight-year-old, boy opened the door and took his shoes off. Deciding to forgo changing to his pajamas, he walked bare-footed through the mess that was the floor and lied down on the bed and fell asleep.
It was early in the morning when Naruto made a trip to the park. Even if the other kids didn't say a word to the blond boy, he enjoyed the silence that the secluded place offered in the swing between the trees.
Naruto was still sitting on the swing contemplating whether he should try talk again with the other kids when he heard a voice from behind him.
"Hey, you're one of those weird people with no pupils who think they are a noble or something. So you think you are better than us, huh?" the voice said.
Naruto turned in the swing and saw three older boys bullying a girl from his class. He remembered trying to talk to her once but she went red and fainted in front of him so Naruto just figured she was just a strange girl who has the same opinion like everyone else and assumed she wanted him to leave her alone.
What do they think they are doing to her? Her name was Hinata, wasn't it? She looks scared… maybe I should help her out. I don't care that they are older than I am, Naruto thought as he got off the swing and started to make his way over to where the bullies were. They were now forcing Hinata to bow and apologize for something.
"Hey! What do you guys think you are doing? Just leave her alone," Naruto ordered he busted into the clearing. Neither Naruto nor the kids felt the faint quaking of the soil beneath their feet.
"What the—oh, look! She has a little boyfriend" one of the bullies taunted.
"Hey, isn't that the kid our parents said to stay away from? He doesn't look scary to me! He is just as short as this one," the other bully said, pushing Hinata to the ground. The shaking got worse but they still were oblivious.
"I said leave her alone!" Naruto yelled as he jumped up, punching the bully who had just pushed Hinata to the ground in the face.
"Alright, we will let your little girlfriend go, but you are going to pay for that!" the bully replied. He then punched Naruto in the gut, forcing him to kneel. The bully was about to go for another punch when, unexpectedly, a tree sprung from the ground. More specifically, a sakura tree. The tree wasn't really big, only about one or two feet taller than the bully.
"Wh—what?" the bully said, frightened.
"Ahhh!" exclaimed Naruto, looking at the tree. He didn't know what to do; he wasn't even sure if the sakura was his doing or not.
Hinata was frozen and she couldn't believe her eyes. In just a matter of seconds a tree grew out of nothing! The bullies had the same expression she sported, and they were unable to utter a sound.
Everyone reacted when the blond boy finally managed to stand up, trembling from head to toe. The bullies turned their accusing eyes to him.
"You!" said the kid who punched him. "You did this!" he yelled pointing at Naruto.
"I…I didn't do it, I swear!" said Naruto, his strange eyes flashing
"I don't know where that thing came from it m—".
"Shut up you freak! I bet that's why our parents tell us to stay away from you!" the bully said with a sneer marring his face as the other goons backed their leader, supporting everything he said.
"No, please—" Naruto pleaded on the verge of tears.
"Let's beat the freak out of his scrawny body," said the kid to Naruto's left. He was the one who was the first to throw the first punch that connected with the Naruto's face, knocking him to the ground and rendering him unable to block all of the rest of the punches that were sent at him.
When they finally relented, the boys left Naruto with two black eyes, a bleeding nose. and lots of small cuts along his face arms and legs.
No, Naruto-kun! He got hurt to save me… what should I do?! Hinata thought as she slowly approached the blond boy. She became more and more concerned when she adequately appraised his sorry state. I need to get help. Oh, where is Kōkatsuna I need him? she thought desperately. Hinata then tried to move Naruto into a sitting position so he could breathe more easily, but the small sakura tree next to the boy kept her from doing anything, as she was afraid the tree might react.
It turned out the young Hyuuga heiress's bodyguard was approaching at that very moment.
"Oh, Hinata-sama there you are. Come, it's time to go home; it's getting very late and Hiashi-sama is going to cut my head if you're not there by dinner," Kōkatsuna said.
"Please, Kōkatsuna! He needs your help," Hinata pleaded, pointing to where Naruto still rested unconscious on the ground near the sakura in its early stages.
"Hinata-sama, we have to go. Come with me at once!" Kōkatsuna ordered.
"But he is hurt! He might need to be taken to the hospital!" Hinata said.
"That is of no concern of yours or mine. The fact that he got himself hurt it is not our obligation to take care of," Kōkatsuna said.
"But he got hurt to save me so we should help him," Hinata said, bordering on tears.
"Hinata-sama, if I help that boy the elders will have me branded. We had better leave so he can go home on his own or someone else come to his aid," Kōkatsuna said as he pulled Hinata from the area. She could only look back at the place where Naruto was slowly regaining consciousness. She worried if he was going to be okay.
It was another thirty minutes before Naruto was able to crawl over to the sakura to support himself enough to stand.
"Why, what did I do? Why wouldn't she help me?" Naruto asked himself, not caring that the sun was no longer lighting the now dark playground. "I saw her leave. Why does everyone hate me so much? And that tree… did I really create that tree?" He gazed over at the strange sakura. By the time Naruto finally found the strength to begin his walk home, the sun had long since set and only the streetlights on the corner of every street lit his way.
The following morning, Naruto decided to visit his jiji. The day before, it was very difficult for the blond boy to reach his apartment door; it was even more so with the task of taking his clothes off without touching the cuts and bruises he had all over his body.
Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, he entered the Hokage tower walked pass the secretary, ignoring the woman's glare and knocking the door that lead to his jiji's office.
"Hey, Oji-san! What're ya doing?" The Sandaime Hokage sighed at the sound of the young voice, though he did welcome an excuse to break from his tedious task of finalizing this year's genin teams.
He raised his calm, grey eyes to the only person who could barge into his office and address him as such: his young ward, Uzumaki Naruto. Well, he considered Naruto so much more than his young ward, but the council of Konohagakure no Sato had all but forbidden him from taking the boy under his wing. As it was, the only thing he could do for him was to secure a flat. At least that's what he thought, granted, it was in a not so nice part of town, but he also would give the young boy a generous allowance every month and give him a special favor from time to time.
Uzumaki Naruto was the secret son of the Sandaime's successor and predecessor, the Yondaime, who died battling the Kyūbi no Yoko. The irony is that Naruto was also the container of the Kyūbi, the jinchūriki, if one wanted to be technical about it. But again, the boy had no idea.
Naruto was only six, and he was short for his age. Probably due to malnourishment, thought Hiruzen with sadness. Like his father, he had golden hair that spiked up in every which direction with no rhyme or reason and eyes that were an extremely unusual shade of blue mixed with a strong shade of pink, almost fuchsia, something the Hokage could not find any explanation for.
"After seven years you haven't found any clue about young Naruto's eye color Jiraiya-kun," Hiruzen said under his breath.
But you could see his mother, Uzumaki Kushina, in him too as, for example, his overly hyper active attitude and his ability to deceive people.
They only thing that the child hadn't inherited from his parents were the six whisker-like scars that adorned his cheeks which was the mark of the Kyuubi.
"Oji-san?" A small hand waved in front of the Hokage's face.
"Yes, Naruto-kun?"
"You spaced out again." The small child pouted.
"Oh… sorry about that." The old man scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"You never answered my question." Naruto pointed out, sitting on a nearby chair facing the Hokage.
"What question would that be, Naruto-kun?"
"What are you doing?" the boy spoke very slowly.
"Oh, sorting out this year's genin teams." The Hokage gestured to the piles of papers and the files that adorned the wooden desk in front of him.
"That doesn't sound so hard!" the boy picked up a few of the profiles and started to match them together.
"On the contrary! The teams must be as balanced as possible. Like this…" The old man showed the boy the one team that he had already made. "It is customary for the rookie of the year to be paired with the one with the worst grades. And the last spot goes to the kunoichi in the middle, to balance it out. See?"
"So the one with the worst grades gets stuck with the best and someone in the middle?" The boy ventured.
"That's right, my boy." The elderly Hokage didn't have time to elaborate, as his secretary came into the office with a pile of books in hand.
"Hokage-sama, here are the books you wanted." Her voice was kind, but the Hokage didn't miss the death glare she at the boy.
Naruto pointedly chose to ignore it.
"What are those?" He asked cocking his head to the side.
"Books," The secretary snapped.
"Yeah, I got that when you said 'these are the books you wanted.' But I was asking what they were about you idiot." The boy's voice was full of anger.
"Fūinjutsu," she sniffed.
"Fūinjutsu? What's that?" This time, he turned and looked at Hiruzen.
"It's the sealing arts, Naruto-kun," answered the old Hokage kindly.
"And it's much too complicated for such a de—" she stopped short of insulting the boy, catching the threat in the Hokage's eye. "F-for such a boy. The Yondaime himself practically wrote the book on it."
"Really!?" The boy perked up at the mention of his idol, his pink-blue eyes wide in fascination.
"Yes," the Hokage chuckled. "He was a Fūinjutsu Master, though I don't know if I'd go as far as to say that he wrote the book on it."
"So he was really good in Fūinjutsu?" The little boy had a thoughtful look on his face.
"That's right." He gestured the secretary to put the books on the chair next to the young Naruto.
"Then I'll be better!" The boy suddenly declared, earning a snort from the secretary.
"You can't possibly even begin to understand such complicated art as Fūinjutsu."
"Hey, is that a challenge?" the boy jumped off the chair and spun to face her.
All his life he had been told what he could and couldn't do, mostly the latter of the two. He was getting sick of it.
Everyone avoided him and looked at him with hate. That's why, in that moment, he decided he had to get strong.
"I'll bet you that I can have all the basics down in five months!" Naruto declared.
"You've got yourself a deal, kid. You come back in five months and prove that you have mastered all the basics and I'll provide you with the books to get to the next step. Hell, if you can do that, I'll buy you every book there is about Fūinjutsu!" the woman snapped, Hiruzen saw with amusement the banter his secretary and Naruto were having in the middle of his office
This day at least got a little more exciting, thought the elderly man, no longer containing the little chuckle he had been trying to conceal since the discussion started.
"I will do it!" His young eyes blazed with determination. There was no stopping him now.
"Alright," The old man sighed, "Alright." He stood up and walked to one of the many bookshelves that lined the room and pulled down a thick leather-bound volume of Konpontekina Fūinjutsu.
"Wow, thanks old man!" Naruto said taking the book from the Hokage's hand and running out of the office shouting a quick: "Bye, jiji."
Both Hiruzen and his secretary stood dumbfounded. Then the two of them looked at each other for moment, recovering from their stupor, shrugged like it was nothing, knowing that was the normal behavior of the boy. Hiruzen managed to hear the whispered curses from his secretary and released a small amount of killer intent to finally shut her up and then moved to continue working.
(5 months later)
After Naruto and the Hokage's secretary's heated argument and the subsequent bet, Naruto started reading the Fūinjutsu book for beginners, absorbing the information like a sponge.
It was very difficult to buy the supplies necessary to practice the exercises the book demanded of him. Even with the monthly stipend his jiji gave to him, the shop owners always overpriced the items just so he couldn't buy from them.
The solution he found was to ask his jiji for the supplies to which the old man happily agreed, ordering the ANBU to send boxes of black scrolls and ink to his apartment.
Besides reading the fūinjutsu, Naruto searched for other topics to read about. The only place he thought could provide the information was the public library, yet another one of the many places that his presence was entirely unwelcome. But that never hindered any of his plans to get to the books. Naruto knew he was good at keeping in the shadows without being noticed and he took advantage of that skill to get past the library's door.
He always did his infiltrations in the library at night when the librarian and the chūnin posted in the entrance ended their shift for the day.
At first, he always looked for thing like fūinjutsu and manga books, but after a month, he ended reading all the fūinjutsu book the library had available and reluctantly went to the other sections that held the history and mathematic books. Many didn't know it, but fūinjutsu was an art of great precision and you were screwed if you didn't know how to apply them. Also, Naruto realized as a fūinjutsu practitioner he needed to know everything about previous fūinjutsu masters and the different uses they gave to the art so he could look for a better way of using his sealing skills.
It was one of the history books that caught his undivided attention. The book told the story of the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and his Mokuton. It revived the memories of his confrontation with the bullies that day in the park. He wasn't still sure if the sakura tree that came out of nowhere was his doing, but he didn't discard the possibility that he might have the same kekkei genkai, only that his Mokuton might be a very… girly version of it.
He tried several times to summon another tree, but all he got was an empty spot in front of him, with a bit of disappointment, and severely crushed self-esteem.
During his free time away from signing all those stupid petitions the civilian council always sent, Hiruzen watched over his young ward through his crystal ball. It was a nifty jutsu his successor the Yondaime created to watch over some of the missions close to Konoha's lands. The old Hokage simply placed a seal in the clothes Naruto used daily.
So it was no surprise he knew of the debacle between Naruto and the bullies of the Hyuuga heiress. From that moment, he knew the pink-blue eye color wasn't the only unique trait the young jinchūriki had in his genes.
He first thought it was his sensei's bloodline, but after researching thoroughly he concluded the sakura was a branched release of the Mokuton, only projected in the form of sakura trees, instead of the regular trees.
The elderly man brought this information to his student, Jiraiya, but since the pervert sage couldn't reach the village so quickly, he replied through toad summons.
Jiraiya agreed with Hiruzen and asked him if could send a blood example to give to Tsunade so they could gather more information. But the Slug Sannin excelled when it came to hiding from her old team-mate and her sensei. Three weeks later, both Hiruzen and Jiraiya finally found the woman in Nikkō Inn Town quite drunk because the town didn't have any gambling centers, so the only thing she could do was drink away all her worries in the pubs.
She agreed to help out and go to Konoha under a few conditions. She would use the laboratories in the hospital and, after she finished all the research, she would leave immediately. The Hokage tried to argue, but Jiraiya stopped him from getting ripped a new one.
"Tsunade-hime, it's good to see you," greeted the old man to his student. The Sannin was with her apprentice, Shizune, and her pig, Tonton. "Did you find anything relating to young Naruto's bloodline?"
"Yes, and is quite the discovery sensei."
"Oh… do tell me," said her teacher, reclining over the desk, eager to hear anything Tsunade might say.
"It is as you and Jiraiya predicted; the boy has a bloodline similar to the Mokuton… but it's not quite the same," said Tsunade with her eyes closed and arms crossed below her breasts.
"How so?" Jiraiya asked.
"Well, for starters, the bloodline is a mutation of Mokuton, though instead of releasing trees, it releases sakura."
"And does it have the same properties of Mokuton?" Hiruzen then asked.
"I don't really know. Maybe, but I'm not sure if it can subdue a bijū."
"Hmm… this is indeed a big discovery. What should we call this new bloodline?" Jiraiya said from his sitting position on the window, Tsunade and Hiruzen thinking the same thing.
"What about Sakuraton?" Tsunade said. "It's suitable, at least for the moment."
"It does sound good," Hiruzen said quietly. "Very well. Now I need to continue with this torture through paper work. Dismissed." The two Sannin left the office in their own fashion, Tsunade with her apprentice by her side and Jiraiya jumping through an open window.
Hiruzen stood up moving around his chair to look through the window behind it getting a good look of Konoha he couldn't stop but think things may start to change with young Naruto's presence be for good or bad he didn't know but only the future would tell.
And Naruto without even knowing it will become a legend across the Elemental Nations and his journey is just about to start.
Big thanks to my beta the midnight requiem without her I wouldn't publish this story.
Please reviews.