"I got a review stating that Naruto wouldn't care for attachments and saying how my questions about who to pair the Mokusei with was just a cry for reviews. It was, I'll admit that, but some of you people when you suggest some things as simple as a pairing give me subtle words that get my brain working. That's why I do the polls, aside from the review craving mind I have. I was also informed that this fic is an Action/Adventure/Sci-Fi fic, something I already knew, but I will explain why I'm asking for a pairing for this genre. True, it shouldn't be within the genre, but every good story has a blend of romance, action, suspense, science fiction, and other genres, the two I chose to list this fic under are the two I believed would best house my story.
I recently learned the picture I received was not one someone drew for me. To this I say, oh darn, but I gotta admit, it made me very happy that someone would have gone so far as to find a pic similar enough to my description of Naruto the Mokusei. It brings tears to my eyes.
But enough of my sappy rants, eh? You're all probably wondering about who will be paired with our Mokusei, aren't ya?
I have decided to pair Naruto with, dun-dun-dun-dah: Fu and Yugito! You may be thinking, "WHAT? WHY THEM?" My answer is simple: It's MY story! MWAHAHAHAHA!"
-Bonesboy15
Mokusei: Will of Fire
Chapter 4: Walk on the Wild Side
"It all started for me about four years ago," Sarutobi told his advisors, "In fact; it was during the council meeting held concerning the sudden vandalism going on throughout the village."
-Four Years Earlier-
"Hokage-sama! This is an outrage!" the head of the Shop Owner's Guide councilman Doru Daisan shouted, "Shops all over are being destroyed in the middle of the night and no one has been caught yet!"
"What kind of shops are being targeted? Shinobi weapons shops? Scroll shops?" Hyuuga Hiashi asked. Doru shook his head.
"More like food stands and clothing stores!" the shop owner said, "It's infuriating! I demand something be done about this before it will affect our villager's taxes!"
"More like your own taxes," Shikaku muttered with an eye roll. His associates Chozu and Inoichi chuckled at his words while several other clan heads smirked. Doru glared at the Nara clan head and brought his fist down onto the table.
"This is no joking manner! The vandalism could bankrupt us should we leave it alone," Doru growled, "This is why I suggest Hokage-sama puts a small squad of interrogators together and find the fiend!"
"I second that," a civilian councilman said.
"And I as well," Danzo said from his spot, "Should we allow the ruffian who is doing this get away, surely soon enough it could draw the attention of other villages and possibly could cause us to fall!"
The unanimous uproar of agreement was deafening to the Hokage. He raised his hand and called for silence before speaking, "I approve the suggestion and will put forth some interrogators that Inoichi can spare for this investigation. Seeing as this was the last topic of issue, I call this council meeting dismissed. Good day to you all."
"At your leave, Hokage-sama," the Council all chorused, leaving one at a time. Once they left, the Hokage stood and went out of the council room to his own office. Seeing the mountain of paperwork, Sarutobi sighed and decided it would be time to get away from it and take a stroll over to the Academy to see what the youngest group of students were doing.
The Academy students were all abuzz when he arrived behind their teacher. The new chunin head of schools, Iruka Umino, was teaching these new students the basics of chakra when he entered. Sarutobi looked over the class and noticed an empty chair in the back of the room. There was no sign of anyone sitting there, and immediately Sarutobi knew who he had saved that extra spot in this class for.
"Well class it seems we have a guest," Iruka said, "The Hokage has decided to join us today, I will allow a short break of studies if that is okay with him. Hokage-sama?"
"Hm? Oh yes, it's quite fine," he said to the young chunin, "Just lost in reminiscing..."
"E-Excuse me, H-Hokage-sama?" a timid girl with pale eyes asked with her hand raised. The Hokage nodded and she continued, "W-Why a-are y-you s-starring a-at t-the b-back of t-the room?"
The other students all turned to see if they could find what had held the Hokage's gaze, only to turn back when he chuckled somberly. At their confused glances, the Hokage sighed and decided to break a few truths to the students.
"I'm sure you are all now aware of a young blonde named Naruto, ne?" he asked. The students started whispering. Of course they had heard of Naruto, he was the homeless heir to the Namikaze clan and the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune that had died more than two years ago. It was scary to some of them that a boy that young could hold that much power, but it made others curious as to what he was like.
"Well," The Hokage continued, "I had originally planned for Naruto to join the Academy this year. Alas, he is gone now and I never took the time to find a replacement."
The whispers grew and Iruka's jaw dropped. He would have been teaching the Kyuubi container? What would that have been like? Would the child have been dangerous to teach? Or would he have another troublemaker like he used to be in an effort to gain attention?
"I want you all to know, that no matter what any adult says, Naruto Namikaze is as much a hero as Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, was," Sarutobi said, "I had personally talked with Naruto and he was no monster. He was a child just like any of you. Unfortunately, some of the people within the village are unaware of how to let go of the past. This is a lesson we must learn, the past and present could have the darkest of clouds, but there's always of hope for sunshine in the future."
Having said what he believed was necessary, the Hokage made his leave. He walked along the forest edge and under a spur of the moment, he decided to go visit the tombstone of Hashirama Senju, his old master. Upon entering the clearing in the wood, several trees shot up from behind him, managing to knock out the ANBU squad assigned to watch him. Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and readied himself, but he wasn't ready for what happened next.
"...Jiji?" a young voice asked from the woods. Sarutobi's heart clenched, but he hardened his resolve.
"You think that by...by defiling a child's memory that I will allow you to escape?" Sarutobi growled as he pulled his Kage robes off and revealed his battle armor, "You think wrong! Come out and face me!"
A small figure landed in front of the battle ready Hokage, making the Kage's eyes go wide. His arms dropped to his side and he took a step back. The boy before him was wearing baggy shinobi pants that were rolled up at the end to allow his feet freedom and he wore a full fishnet shirt. His blonde hair was long, but was pulled back to be kept out of his eyes.
"N...Naruto?" Sarutobi asked. The child seemed to relax and the glowing marks on his body stopped glowing green.
"Hello Jiji," the child said with a small smile, "How've you been?"
"I've been fine-No wait, where the Hell have you been?" Sarutobi asked with a yell. Naruto smiled and gestured to the woods.
"With Kaa-san," he said, "Come to see Hashirama-sama? Kaa-san says you visit him and Tobirama-sama a lot."
"K-Kaa-san?" Sarutobi stuttered, "Is...Is Kushina here?"
"Who? Oh, Uzumaki heiress? Nah, she's not here," Naruto said, interlocking his hands behind his head, "Kaa-san says she hasn't been here for a while now...Something like...seven or eight years."
"Naruto, who is this Kaa-san?" Sarutobi asked, narrowing his eyes and readying his guard. Naruto snickered, causing Sarutobi to raise an eyebrow.
"Kaa-san doesn't want to fight you, Jiji," Naruto said with a smile, "Nor do you want to fight her."
"Oh? And why is that?" Sarutobi asked, not moving from his position. Naruto snickered.
"Cuz Kaa-san already has you outnumbered, Jiji," Naruto said with a small grin. His grin dropped, "And if you try and hurt her, I'll kill you."
Sarutobi's eyes widened, "W-What?"
"I won't let anyone hurt Kaa-san ever again," the blonde said, settling into a familiar fighting stance across from Sarutobi. The Hokage's eyes widened.
"Th-That's Hashirama-sensei..." he started. Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"Hai," the blonde said as his markings glowed green once again, "His Goken. The technique he taught to Maito Sai, who was barely adept at anything but taijutsu and Doton. I have started learning it, and according to Kaa-san, I am already better than your Monkey's Fist."
Sarutobi sighed and dropped his stance, opting to go for a more peaceful approach, "Naruto...Just tell me what happened to you, and we can make this right. I can take you back into the village."
"NO! I won't go back!" Naruto shouted, rushing at the Hokage. He leapt into the air and began a spinning roundhouse, crying out, "Leaf Whirlwind!"
Sarutobi barely had time to block. When Naruto's heel connected with his arm, the Kage issue arm-guard fractured from the pressure of the chakra enhanced attack, making the Hokage's eyes go wide. Naruto was glaring holes into Sarutobi's head for his suggestion.
"Ok, OK! I won't take you back to the village!" Sarutobi shouted out. The blonde pushed off of the arm he was being blocked with and landed a good four feet away from the Hokage, who was looking on in awe at the blonde. Naruto smiled and his glowing stopped.
"Good," he said as he started to walk back into the woods, "You probably want answers, so follow me, Jiji. We're more secure with kaa-san than in that village."
Sarutobi followed the blonde for a good twenty minutes into the woods until they stopped walking. Naruto's markings glowed again and a table with two chairs appeared. A custom shogi board sprouted from the table and Naruto sat down on one side, swinging his legs childishly.
"Wanna play a game before business, Jiji?" he asked with hopeful eyes, "It's been awhile since anyone came to play with me."
"Anyone came to play with you?" Sarutobi chorused as he sat down, "Who played with you Naruto?"
"Couple o' ninjas," he said, moving a piece and still kicking his legs, "One of em has a cool sword and he coughs a lot, but another guy had seven swords and he had white clothes on. Said he was visiting with his brother, but I could tell he was special like me."
"Special like you?" Sarutobi asked as he pondered the blonde's seemingly random move before making his own move, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I can't tell you," Naruto said as he cocked his head and moved another piece, "I pinky swore I wouldn't tell anyone about his secret and he didn't tell his brother about me, so long as I gave him his own forest to play in."
Sarutobi frowned. That Naruto was this trustworthy with a complete stranger worried him. He could already tell he had Mokuton, anyone with brains could deduce that from what the blonde was saying. Add that and a large knowledge of seals, you could tell the markings on Naruto's body were seal tattoos that allow him to have a greater control over the Mokuton than that of the resident ANBU Mokuton user, Tenzo. He looked down at the board for a moment and made another move.
"You can't even tell me?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto shook his head.
"Pinky swears are legit, fo shit," the blonde recited, "That's what the man said to me. Kaa-san also has been watching him, so I can trust him."
He moved a piece and then looked up at the older shinobi. Sarutobi looked down at the board for a minute before moving his knight and taking a pawn.
"Check," the Hokage said, "Now this other swordsman with a cough, his name is...?"
"Hayate," Naruto answered while looking down at the board and moving a rook to take the Kage's knight, "He's nice. He wants me to be there when he and his fi-an-say get married."
Sarutobi chuckled as he moved his silver general, "Does he now? And when is that?"
"Two years...maybe three," the blonde said as he moved his gold general, "Check."
Sarutobi smiled and looked down at the board, studying it before going slack jawed. He resigned himself and chuckled before bowing his head, "I resign. You are very good, Naruto-kun."
"That's cuz Kaa-san gave me your strategy before we played," the blond snickered, "But, you did pretty good. I had to make up a new strategy from scratch. Hashirama-sama didn't have a strategy to use against his own combined with Tobirama-sama's."
His tattoos glowed once again, and the wooden game board vanished. Naruto looked up with a smile at the older man's shocked face. Sarutobi stuttered for a moment before asking, "Naruto-kun...who is this Kaa-san of yours?"
"The forest," Naruto said as though it was obvious. Sarutobi blinked and looked around him seeing the trees' limbs blow in a nonexistent wind; it was as though the forest was giggling.
"So...this forest is your Kaa-san?" the Kage asked the young blonde. Naruto nodded.
"Hai," he said, "Kaa-san hasn't let many people come into the forest this far ever since your first reign as Sandaime Hokage, Jiji. She doesn't blame you, and I don't either, so you can visit whenever you want. But we have a couple conditions first."
"Oh, and what are these conditions?" Sarutobi asked with an arched brow. Naruto nodded and his face grew serious, a strange sight to see on a child, before he spoke again.
"We don't want anyone to enter the Forest of Death for 'the Hell of it'," he said with a scowl, "They go in, kill random animals and destroy tons of trees, and then leave without considering the after effects. Our second condition is that you stop using my old name and continue with the story that I died."
"You're old name?" Sarutobi asked with a confused look, "What do you mean?"
"I no longer go by Naruto Uzumaki," the blonde said, "Nor will I go by the Namikaze clan name. My new name, if I ever do return to that village, is Senju. If I return at all, that is. Until that time may come, call me Mokusei."
Once he recovered from the shock of the name the boy chose, Sarutobi chuckled and shook his head, "Mokusei, the Spirit of the Wood. Fitting, considering there is already a rumor of you going around the village. I will keep that in mind, Naru-err, Mokusei-kun. But there is something I want you to do for me in return."
Naruto pouted, "You want me to stop spray painting and pranking the shops, huh?"
Sarutobi laughed, "I would like that. If you could be so kind as to show me my way back to the ANBU group we left back at Sensei's memorial..."
"Ok, Jiji, but first things first," Naruto said, holding his hand up and pinky out. Sarutobi chuckled once again and locked his pinky with the blonde's earning a small smile from him.
-Present-
"And that's the day I learned Naruto was still alive," Sarutobi said with a small sigh. The two advisors were amazed by the skill shown from the boy at that age.
"It explains a lot," Homura mused, "But we certainly cannot go to the council with this. The civilians anyway. They would possibly bring his wrath upon us."
"That or try and recruit him into Danzo's puppets," Koharu said with a small scowl, "We do need someone to play messenger with him for us. We can't risk Mitarashi though, she's too good a member of the I&T division."
"I agree, Koharu," Sarutobi said with a nod before a small smile appeared on his face, "And I know just the person to do it."
Naruto bit into another chunk of boar meat and ripped it from the bone. Kin watched the barbaric manners the otherwise perfect (in her opinion) boy was displaying with awe. It kind of made sense that he had no manners, seeing as he lived in the forest, but Kin could barely keep herself from getting completely disgusted. She should be less concerned with Naruto's eating habits considering that Zaku and most of the other male members of Otogakure were worse than him.
Naruto swallowed his bit of boar meat and looked at Kin, "You're not gonna eat yours?"
"Oh, erm, I..." Kin stuttered out. The Mokusei chuckled before putting his hand on the ground and making a wooden fork and knife appear.
"Here," he said after he took a smaller bite, "Sorry about my manners. Been a while since I had a dinner guest."
Kin blushed and picked the utensils up and cutting into her own bit of meat. She took a small piece and put it in her mouth, chewing it slowly before a smile crossed her features. She cut another piece out before stuffing it into her mouth as well, making Naruto laugh.
"It's so good!" Kin said after swallowing her two bites, "All I need is a...drink?"
A vine grew down in front of her with some berries on its end as a wooden goblet appeared on her left. The Mokusei markings stopped glowing and he plucked a few berries before crushing them in his grip over her cup, making a juice appear. He popped the near-hydrated fruit into his mouth and ate them with ease before grabbing another group of berries and doing the same for his own goblet.
"Wow!" Kin said in amazement, "So...you don't even have to go into the village for supplies do you?"
"Just to steal a few clothes," the blonde replied as he took a bite of meat. After he swallowed he continued, "I might have to go back for a new shirt. This one's just about done. Maybe some pants too...do you need anything?"
Kin blushed and smiled thankfully as she looked down at her food, "N-No, but thank you for offering, Mokusei-san."
He studied her for a moment before putting his meat down and putting both hands on the ground. His markings glowed and he said, "Wood Release: Wood Clone!"
A small willow tree sprouted from the ground before it twisted and reformed into a perfect duplicate of him. The blonde's markings ceased to glow after a good minute of the clone's existence and the clone melded back into the ground, vanishing from sight.
"What...where did it go?" Kin asked. Naruto grinned at her and took a drink of his fruit juice.
"He went to get my shopping done," the blonde said, "I don't leave the forest, but my clones do. It's how I pulled a lot of pranks before the Hokage sought a council with me and made me stop. He broke a part of his bargain though, which is why he's going to be holding a council later."
"Oh," Kin said quietly. The Mokusei went back to a neutral look and picked his piece of meat up. He stood and went to the wall of Gaia before looking back at Kin, "I'm going out. Don't worry about cleaning up when you're done, just tell Kaa-san you are and she'll take care of it. See ya."
He then walked out of the tree, leaving the former Oto kunoichi to herself once again. She sighed and hugged her legs close to her chest as she looked down at the food he made for her.
God, I can't even thank him for dinner before he goes and does...whatever it is he does...Kin thought before looking at the berry vine that was still in front of her. She hesitated before plucking a berry from it and taking a bite. Her eyes shot wide open and she looked down at her drink before picking it up and tasting it. As she let the cool delicious juice flow down her throat, her last thought was, my god I would marry him if I could.
Outside of the giant Tiger den Naruto dropped another body of a dead genin. He shook his head and started looking for anything good to take off him before his biju sense went off. He leapt to the side just in time to avoid a Katon jutsu that flew by his head.
Katon, Katon, what biju used Katon again? The blonde thought as he dove into the nearest tree. When he reemerged, he scowled at the smell of burning oak.
"Goddamn, no good, son of a bitching shinobi!" he roared to the sky. He darted his head around at the sound of a growl and saw...a giant flaming cat.
"Oh this is bad..." Naruto muttered, leaping to the ground as it took a swipe at him. The giant cat growled and shot another fireball after him.
"Damn, damn, damn, damn!" Naruto cried as he dropped into a roll upon landing. He shot up into a back handspring to avoid the following fireballs. When the cat landed in front of him, Naruto finally got a few words of wisdom from his Kaa-san.
"Thanks Kaa-san!" he shouted before slamming his hands on the ground, "Try this on for size, pussy-cat. Wood Relea-aaaahhhh!"
He was hit with a fireball, sending him reeling back into the den of the giant tigers. The cat outside of the cave released a meek grin before powering down slightly to one tail, allowing a ponytailed blonde teenaged girl to be visible. Beneath her blue chakra shroud, she was wearing a skin tight purple short sleeved shirt and dark shinobi pants taped at the middle of her calf to above her ankle, allowing her blue sandals to slip on easily. She had fingerless gloves and a Kumogakure hitai-ate around her head.
"That seemed easier than Kirabi made it out to be," she mused with a smirk, "Oh well, I was only supposed to get his attention, but I guess I killed him."
"YOU WISH!" a voice shouted from behind her. She turned around in shock to see the now shirtless blonde glaring daggers at her with his eyes glowing green along with his tattoos. Steam was rolling off his body, healing the burns her attack caused. He slammed his clenched fists into the ground and she watched with amazement as dirt started to cover over his fists.
"Earth Release: Earth Gloves!" he shouted, tearing the huge arms from the ground. He slammed his fists together and snarled at her, "You hurt me, that I can live with. But you hurt Kaa-san and for that, I'm gonna KILL YOU!"
"Oh shit!" the girl said, too exhausted to go back into her second tailed form. She raised her hands to block the incoming fist, barely succeeding to do so. She was sent flying into a tree with enough force to actually break something in her back. She groaned in pain and looked up through her green and yellow eyes to see him running at her with another fist cocked back.
"RRRAAGGH!" he roared as he neared. Before the first impacted, she dropped her chakra shroud and closed her eyes, ready for the end to finally come. A strong gust of wind blowing past her face and the sound of something digging into the ground made her think she was already on the other side. She opened her eyes to see the large dirt fist inches away from her face.
"Wh-What?" she whispered in shock. The dirt surrounding the fist broke apart slowly, revealing a slightly filthy clenched human fist. She looked past it to see the glowing green eyes of the blonde she was crushed by in one stroke fade into two blue orbs. He lowered his fist and stood in a tense fashion, before his tattoos stopped glowing and the other hand covered in top soil became visible, the dirt that was on it falling to the ground quickly. He crossed his arms over his now healed chest and she could see the faint markings of a seal on his stomach.
"Oh my god, did we almost kill that drool-worthy male?" a voice in the back of her head asked. Yugito groaned and held her head. She looked up to see the blonde's tattooed face looking directly into her eyes, his cerulean blue eyes not revealing anything. After a flash of green, she only saw black.
Naruto saw the Jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Neko slump over, unconscious. He crossed his arms and scowled at her before sighing in defeat.
"Fine," he muttered, "I don't like it, but I'll do it, only cuz you said so, Kaa-san."
He crouched down next to the unconscious Kumo kunoichi and put his hands underneath her knees and one on her back. Naruto stood with the slightly taller teen in his arms and checked her for any visible injuries. Seeing that she had none, save for a bruised spine, he decided he'd treat that when she was conscious. He walked back over to a tree that was intact and transported back to the area near Gaia.
The Mokusei released a small chuckle when he appeared next to Gaia as a thought went through his mind. At least now Kin Tsuchi will have someone to keep her company.
"So what do we do about the Mokusei then, Danzo-sama?" Sai asked from within the headquarters of Root ANBU. He was kneeling before the crippled war hawk as he sat in his makeshift throne. Personally, he wanted to just leave the Mokusei alone, but he didn't want to even dare suggest that to his master. Not if he wanted to live anyway.
Danzo hummed for a moment before speaking, "We will wait to see what Hiruzen does before we make any move. I want more tabs held on him though. I want eyes within the Forest of Death at all times!"
Sai hesitated before nodding, a first for him because he knew the true power that the Mokusei held was much greater than his own, or any other Root ANBU for that matter. He was reluctant to spy on the unknown legend, but it was Danzo-sama's will. And Danzo-sama's will was law.
"It will be done, Danzo-sama," the pale boy said as he bowed his head. Inwardly he thought, I will NOT be the one to do it, though.
AN: "There we go...A nice good chapter setting the tide for the upcoming pre-invasion filler. I wonder how Kin will react to Yugito's presence. Will Sai end up spying on the Mokusei, or will he get someone else to do it to save his own skin? What will Konoha's Council do for Naruto in order to get the information needed on the upcoming invasion? What exactly was the Jinchuriki for the Nibi no Neko mission concerning Naruto? Was Kirabi directly or indirectly involved with it? Was the Raikage even involved? We'll just have to wait and see. PEACE."
AN: I am so sorry about this late update, I fixed everything and had everything running about a month ago, but i also started collage around the same time. So expect random and long updates, I do not have an exact update schedule, but I'll do what i can on my free time, which is maybe 1 hour a day. Also I am looking for a beta-reader, so if you want to, please PM me.
Hey P.S. I'm not dead yet, HAHAHAHAHA
