-White Plum Hidden in the Leaves-

A/N: Hello, Readers! Welcome to my very first Naruto fic. This story is something that I've had on my mind for a long time, and have finally decided to post it. ^-^ This story happens to be made from the inspiration of Midnight's Eyes' story, "A Sannin's Child," and Baal of Yarns' story "Senju Naruto," and is mostly OC-centric. Reviews and healthy criticism will be greatly appreciated, and flames will be used to roast marshmallows.

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me, only the OCs that I create.

Prologue:

Endings and Beginnings

A cool autumn breeze gently swayed the tops of the trees of the vast forest of the Land of Fire, and a clear starry sky looked down over the village of Konohagakure. Crushed, war-torn buildings and cratered streets sat in testimony of the destruction caused by the wrath of the Kyuubi; the nine-tailed demon fox. Nobody knew what had provoked the demon to attack Konoha, it had come completely on a whim, carving a path of destruction in its wake. But the battle was now over and the fox was sealed away forever, but as a result, the village had lost many valued shinobi. Not only that, Konoha had also lost its beloved leader, the Yondaime.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been forced out of his short retirement to take up the mantle of Hokage once again, after the untimely death of his successor. The elderly shinobi stared out the window of his new-old office at the remains of his village.

It was all still so surreal to Hiruzen, to think that the Yondaime was dead was just so hard to grasp. Minato Namikaze was all village could ask for in a leader; powerful, kind-hearted, at the peek of his prime, and was loved by most if not all of the village. Not only that, but he had a beautiful wife in the form of a fiery redhead named Kushina Uzumaki, and only a few hours ago had become a father as well. But now the famed Yellow Flash was gone.

The Sandaime was brought out of his thinking by a soft sigh coming from an old bassinet sitting on the other side of the room. Hiruzen walked over to peer inside at its sleeping occupant.

He was greeted by the sight of a tiny pink infant wrapped in a simple white blanket. Tufts of soft sun-kissed blonde hair covered the infant's head and three whisker-like markings adorned each of his round cheeks. Had his eyes been open, they would have been the brightest shade of blue Hiruzen had ever seen. This was the son of the famed Yellow Flash and the fiery kunoichi of the extinct Whirlpool Country: Naruto Uzumaki.

Not only had the poor boy lost both his mother and father on the same night, but he was also now the container of the dreaded Kyuubi. Which Minato had given his life to seal the fox away inside his own newborn son. Jinchuriki was the term used for those who had had a demon sealed within them; a human sacrifice.

Minato's dieing wish was for little Naruto to be viewed as a hero of the village for being the demon's jailer, but that had not been the case. Once Hiruzen had announced the Yondaime's death and Naruto's status as a Jinchuriki, the citizens of the village immediately demanded for the infants death. They did not see Naruto, they only saw the Kyuubi in a weakened human form. Never had the Hokage been so ashamed of his village.

He had argued with the Council and the village Clan Heads for hours to get his point across. The Council tended to forget that he was the Hokage and what he said goes, and that the Council did simply that: council the Hokage.

During the heated meeting with Council, Hiruzen made a degree that it would now be punishable by death for anyone to speak that Naruto was the host of a demon, and that he would not be raised as a weapon, but as a normal child. Speaking of which… Hiruzen turned his attention the third occupant of the room, who was also currently asleep.

Next to Naruto's bassinet sat an old worn-out plush couch, where a very young girl was curled up asleep like a cat. Her short hair was the color of fresh snow and had her eyes been open, they would have been a lovely shade of honey-brown. This was Ume, the daughter of two of Hiruzen's beloved students: The Slug Princess, Tsunade Senju, and Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. Even though little Ume was no orphan, she was as alone as Naruto was at the time.

Ume's birth had been completely unexpected, and Hiruzen had no idea of her existence for quite some time. It wasn't until two months after Ume's birth that Hiruzen finally met her. Her mother, Tsunade, had un-expectably arrived in the village alone in the dead of night and gave the tiny baby directly to Hiruzen, before leaving again. Her only explanation for leaving Ume behind was that she wasn't strong enough to protect her. Hiruzen did not hear from Tsunade again after that.

Her father, Jiraiya, would drop by now and again to check up on little Ume, but he never stayed in the village for very long. He also never to the baby with him when he left. Also, both parents wished to keep Ume's heritage under wraps. Hiruzen agreed with them.

Minato and Kushina were two of the few people who knew of Ume's heritage, and it was they who raised Ume for the first two years of her life. But, with both of them now gone, Hiruzen had little choice but to place Ume along with Naruto in one of the village orphanages until somebody claimed them. Until that day came, both Naruto and Ume would be given Kushina's surname: Uzumaki.

All that the old Hokage could do now was watch over the young ones from afar and pray for the best.

A/N: please review ^-^

Japanese/ Jutsu List:

- Konohagakure: The Village Hidden in the Leaves

- Yondaime: The 4th Hokage

- Sandaime: The 3rd Hokage

- Jinchuriki: A demon host

- Hokage: the leader of Konoha

- Shinobi: ninja

- Kunoichi: female ninja

- Kyuubi: nine-tailed demon fox