Hidden Genes

Summary: There is a type of jutsu only one shinobi could use,the Shodaime became famous for it being impossible for anyone who doesn't have his DNA, and even then it was rare. Sharingan is an Uchiha doujutsu,so no one can have it unless an eye is given, so why does the Kyuubi vessel have both?Why does he move like the Yondaime?

'What should I do? What should I do? What should I do!?' That was all that was running through Naruto's head as he stared at the pale, raven haired boy staring at him from the tree he had obviously been occupying for some time now and had probably seen a lot more than he should have.

Kami, this could not be happening! After eight years of keeping it all a secret, one of his most important secrets got out and so carelessly! What if it had been anyone other than Sasuke! Kami, he was just lucky he was turned away from the Uchiha, or two more secrets would have been revealed, and he wasn't sure which would have been more disturbing to the slightly older boy: his Sharingan or his Jinchuriki status?

And who knew how the raven was going to react to this?! Was he going to tell someone? No, the Uchiha rarely talking with anyone other than Naruto himself. But what about telling Kakashi? Or Sakura? They were a team now. He might feel the need to let them know because it was obvious Naruto wasn't going to do it. But, no. The Uchiha knew the need for secrets and privacy. After all, he was always hounded by his fangirls. But will he try and blackmail Naruto because he now knew this? That didn't seem like that Uchiha, either. So what was he going to do? Was he going to-

Naruto! Kit, calm down, jeez. He heard Kurama say in his head and Naruto tried to listen to his advice, but he was still in a panic. Naruto, you need to calm down! He'll start asking questions any second now and you need to be at least half coherent in your answers!

'But-'

Calm down, okay. The demon fox said soothingly, not believing that he was acting this way. Jeez, what had his years with Naruto done to his pride as the fearsome biju, the Kyuubi no Kitsune? He was sure that if some of his siblings saw him now, he would never live it down. But he really liked Naruto, he was his kit! He didn't like seeing the boy so upset. Just ... think about it all rationally. Sasuke has never judged you for anything. He even helped you quite a few times! He tried to reason with the blond and Naruto paused in his panic to actually listen. Try to have some faith in him, okay? Maybe he won't be as judgmental as you fear him to be? And since when did Uchiha Sasuke give a damn about anyone's personal business?

'You're right. Sasuke doesn't care about things like that.' The quality would be a horrible on anyone else, but it just made Sasuke awesome, especially in this situation. The Uchiha didn't care what others thought, he didn't care why someone was alone, he just didn't care about other people's problems and secrets. He had enough of his own to deal with to care about what made other people pissed off. He ignored everything and everyone who couldn't help him become a stronger ninja.

Everything and everyone but Naruto, that is.

Sasuke watched as the blond stopped looking panicked and actually looked more nervous and sheepish, a blush spreading across tanned cheeks. He raised an eyebrow at that, not seeing what could have possible made the younger boy flustered all of a sudden while Naruto tried to ignore his blush and the exasperated sigh Kurama gave at his own reaction every time he thought Sasuke might be treating him differently from everyone else.

''Um, hey, Sasuke.'' He decided to greet and the Uchiha got out of the tree, landing beside the blond and looking down at the paprika the blond had just grown out of seemingly nowhere and blue eyes darted down and away. ''Oh, that ... Um, I was just ... That is ... You see ...''

''Naruto, I am not an usuratonkachi like you.'' Naruto went to snap at the other automatically before the insult Sasuke said registered and his eyes widened. He whipped his head around to stare at Sasuke, relief filling every cell of his body. It was a well known fact that only Sasuke was allowed to call the blond ''usuratonkachi'' or ''dobe''. It was equally well known that it was only the blond that was called those names other than ''idiot'', ''baka'' and ''dumbass''. In fact, only Naruto got called any insults. Anyone who Sasuke couldn't stand was ignored by the Uchiha. Only Naruto could get a reaction out of him. Being called one of the special insults he allowed only Sasuke to call him calmed the blond down and Sasuke saw this. So he had made the right call, after all. ''I know what it is.''

''You do?''

''Yes,'' the black eyes rolled at this and the reaction got Naruto fuming before he could stop himself. It was only natural, after years of arguing like this. ''It's Mokuton. Or a form of it, I guess. What I'm more curious about is how you have it?''

The blond shrugged at this. He and Kurama really only had guesses but they had no idea if they were even close to the truth. Hell, for all they knew, Danzo had managed to get a nurse at the hospital to implant some of Senju Hashirama's cell into Naruto while he was a baby and the seal still too fresh for Kurama to have any connection to the outside world. Or it could even be some form of mutation. Both his parents had very adaptable chakra and Kurama's presence could have been a trigger or something.

Sasuke frowned at the lack of an answer, but he guessed it was probably true that the dobe didn't know. After all, it was a well known fact that no one even knew who Naruto's parents were. Maybe he had some far link to the Senju clan. Kekkei Genkai weren't predictable. In the Uchiha clan, it was rare, but in other clans it wasn't so rare that the ability would jump generations. ''How long have you had it? Or been aware of it, more precisely?''

''I guess I had it since birth, but I only became aware of it when I was four and accidentally used it when some drunk tugs were chasing me through the forest.'' The blond said plainly, already all too used to people chasing him because of how he was born. Sasuke frowned at that, not at all liking that this had been happening years before he had first helped Naruto out. But it would seem that Naruto was quite like him. He had activated his Kekkei Genkai in a time of peril and danger, like Sasuke had his Sharingan when Itachi had-

Sasuke shook his head to be rid of those thoughts. No, he didn't need to think about his brother at a time like this. Naruto was maybe more relaxed but he still looked like a skittish animal about to run away. ''How come you never use it?''

''It's not that I don't, I just don't want other to know I use it, so I hide when I do.'' The Kyuubi vessel shrugged, crouching down to pluck the paprika he had been intending to eat with his fish.

''But wouldn't they treat you a bit better if they knew you had some connection to Shodaime?''

Blue eyes narrowed but he didn't look up. ''You're not aware of the whole situation for me, so of course you'd think that. But if I did do that, they'd just hunt me more than they already do now. It would be a fox hunt all year long.'' The blond snorted bitterly at his own joke, getting another frown from Sasuke.

''Then tell me your whole situation so I can understand.''

''You can't be serious?'' Naruto asked as he finally looked up at Sasuke again. 'Is he playing a cruel joke on me or something?'

Since when does he joke, Naruto?

'I'm serious here, Kurama.'

So am I.

Naruto sighed and studied the black eyes staring intently at him. He didn't see any mocking in them, only honest curiosity and confusion. He groaned and ran a hand through his messy hair. ''I can't believe I'm about to do this, but fine. I'll tell you - not everything - but most of my situation.'' He ignored the protesting look so Sasuke dropped it. He was lucky enough to have Naruto tell him anything at all. ''But not here. I have no idea when someone will come through here, so we can talk in my home.''

''That's actually why I followed you,'' Sasuke found himself admitting. ''I wanted to see where you lived. Since you always rejected my offers to move into the Uchiha mansion with me. I guess I understand now, somewhat, although you could have trained on the Uchiha trainings grounds, too.''

''You're still hung up on that?'' The younger of the two asked with surprise as he stood up and started walking towards the big oak.

Not even I was expecting that. The Kyuubi admitted from inside his head, the fox watching curiously as Naruto lead the Uchiha towards their hidden home. They remained silent although Sasuke opened his mouth to ask Naruto a question when the orange clad teen jumped onto a high branch of the old oak. Sasuke frowned but followed anyway, his eyes widening when Naruto pushed open a door in the tree bark. The blond peeked over his shoulder shyly at the Uchiha before gesturing for the other to walk in.

It was spacious and home, was the first impression that Sasuke got. Almost everything was made out of wood and looked almost handmade but there were a few things he recognized from seeing being sold in the village, like the red curtains and the light blue rug that gave it a brighter feel. The small kitchen, dinning area and living room looked more homey than Sasuke's compound ever felt, even with his family's presence. There was a small TV in front of a love seat that acted as a normal couch and there was a small bookshelf beside the TV. It was filled mostly with scrolls and a few books, mostly about gardening, but after what he saw in front of the 'house', it didn't surprise Sasuke all that much. There were also a few pictures there, one being of two people - a redhead female and a blond man that looked somehow familiar - he didn't recognize, one with the Hokage and the newest looking one was the picture Team 7 got before their first official mission the day after Kakashi passed them. There was a few other ones with Naruto's fox kuchiyose, Kurama, if he remembered correctly, and a few others with Umino Iruka, their old teacher.

What surprised Sasuke, though, was a single picture of him and the blond from that one day, three years ago, when they had a buddy exercise and the two were paired together. They had been forced to work together to pass some obstacle course and despite their constant bickering, they got the best score. The picture was of him and Naruto holding two diplomas that declared them "best buddies" or something like that. People chalked it all off as Sasuke doing most of the work and Naruto just riding on his cotails of fame and success. Sasuke was surprised Naruto had the picture, as it was supposed to be in the Academy on a "wall of fame". 'Probably took it or had Iruka-sensei make him a copy,' the Uchiha idly thought as he noticed some of the older pictures were charred. He frowned, remembering hearing about the destruction of Naruto's childhood home.

He next noticed a small display of weapons and a strange set of kunai drew his attention, but Naruto coughed to get his attention at that moment and Sasuke turned to face the blond, who was fidgeting a bit. "Nice house," he commented, noticing a spiralking small staircase at the other side of the room. Upstairs was Naruto's bedroom and downstairs was his bathroom. Because he didn't have to build things by hand, instead using his Mokuton, he had been able to make a plumbing system and even get fresh water straight from the stream. As for electricity, he didn't need it. He cooked on a fire stove and had only the fridge and TV on a small generator that he charged during storms with thunder. He didn't need heating as Kurama kept him warm during winter and if he wanted light, he could always make a fire and light candles. Living where he did, that might be considered a fire hazard, but Kurama had told him about the Shodaime's special type of trees that didn't burn and he had used their wood to cover the entire surface of his home. It also kept the cold out, so he really didn't need heating. "But didn't it kill the tree? Making this?"

Naruto shook his blond head as he sat down on the couch and folded his legs up so his chin rested on his knees. "Not if you can make the tree grow around it. I can't really explain it, but the tree is fine. Actually, it's even healthier now that I'm living here."

Sasuke nodded, sitting on the other side of the love seat. From what he could see of the scrolls, some were basics that they were supposed to learn at the Academy but he frowned when he noticed that very few were the really necessary ones. Then again, with how the villagers were treating the blond, Sasuke wasn't all too surprised that Naruto didn't have the essentials for passing the Academy. Yet he had and here they were now. Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how he did it. The other scrolls looked older and were also charred slightly, like some of the pictures. It would seem that Naruto had managed to salvage some of his things from the fire, although those scrolls looked too advanced for genin. Maybe they had belonged to the blond's parents? The blond man in the picture must have been Naruto's father, as he was the spitting image of the orange wearing ninja.

"So how come you decided to live here?" 'Especially since I was offering you a home, too.' He added in his mind but didn't say it out loud for fear of upsetting Naruto. The blond already looked nervous enough. No need to add to that.

"This is the place I first used my powers to save myself when I was four." The blond replied and smiled a small smile at the strange memory. It looked a bit bitter but that was the night that changed Naruto's life. It set him on the path he was on today and he never regretted it.

"What happened?" The raven asked with a worried frown.

"Seven drunkards chased me into the forest. Both my legs were injured and I remember it was really hard to breathe. I somehow made it to the base of the tree and started praying that I would be okay, and that's when my powers awakened." Naruto explained, placing his hands in the praying position he used when he was using Mokuton.

"Powers? As in, more than one?" Dark eyes studied the blond as Naruto fidgeted. Blue eyes refused to meet that of the Uchiha until pale fingers took a hold of his chin and made him look at Sasuke. "Naruto?"

'Should I tell him?' Naruto wondered, staring into those black, determined eyes, feeling a shiver travel through his body and a blush trying to crawl up his neck all the way to his hairline.

Might be a good idea, Kurama mused, staring at the other boy through his Jinchuuriki's eyes. You'd have another ally who will know about your abilities and he could help you train.

'But I'm scared,' the blond admitted, bitting his lower lip but never breaking eye contact with Sasuke. 'How will he react about the Sharingan?'

Whoa, who said anything about the Sharingan? The fox asked in astonishment. If he knew, he'd probably throw a fit or something!

'Then what should I tell him about?'

Tell him about your parents, about Mokuton and about ... me.

'Kurama! You can't be serious!?' The blond sent in panic.

Kurama rolled his eyes inside the mindspace. Relax, kit. I don't think it will scare him away.

'If you're sure,' the blond boy conceded and nodded to Sasuke. "It might be better that I show you."

"Show me what?" Sasuke asked curiously, never letting go of Naruto's chin. The blond was an open book when it came to emotions. He had read panic, resignation, uncertainty, fear and now hesitating determination. He wondered what Naruto could possibly be hiding that it caused him this much turmoil just to tell it to someone who had risked punishment for his sake. However, he didn't have to wait long as Naruto took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Sasuke felt his own eyes widen when Naruto's eyes opened and instead of the innocent blue he was so used to, Sasuke was now faced with blood red, fox like eyes that stared at him with unimaginable power. "Naruto?"

"Do you know about the attack on Konoha from twelve years ago?"