The Cursed Tree

Disclaimer I own nothing of the naruto franchise.

AN:- This Fic has been sitting around for a few years and I hope you all enjoy it. I would like to add that English is not my first language.

Chapter 1

He listened attentively to the task given. Take the scroll of seals and learn a technique within an hour. He had this in the bag, after all he was going to be the next Hokage Dattebayo. "Alright Mizuki-sensei. I'll show you how awesome I am." He said grinning. Mizuki-Sensei smiled at him.

Hours later he ran flying through the trees grinning madly, a scroll tied to his back. Hokage-Jiji was so easy to fool. He had gone in and performed the Oiroke no Jutsu and the old man had fainted within seconds. The scroll had been hidden really well, he had almost given up when he remembered the small hiding place in the room. Feeling as he was hidden for the time being he unfurled the scroll and looked through the techniques. His eyes widening as he caught sight of the immense number of them listed.

There however was one that held his interest so he copied it down on a blank scroll. It wasn't for battle so he shoved it in his pocket and continued to look for more.

He had gotten the technique down when Iruka-sensei came into the clearing, he was hiding in. Thinking he was here to pass him, he jumped out of his hiding place jubilantly smiling wide as he explained to Iruka-sensei how he had completed the task. He seemed mad at first but then an expression of confusion settled on his face.

"Naruto, who exactly told you about this test?" Iruka asked looking at Naruto who looked confused. "Mizuki-sensei" he said. He was shocked, why would Mizuki ask Naruto to steal. He was about to start lecturing him about the situation he was in when Mizuki burst out of the foliage. A menacing look on his face as he ordered Naruto to hand over the scroll. Mizuki was a traitor!. Iruka was by no means a frontline Shinobi but he was still a Shinobi. He quickly pushed Naruto behind him and pulled out a kunai. Pointing it at Mizuki "Naruto, take the scroll and run. Mizuki is a traitor." He said before jumping at the man opposite him.

Naruto ran trying to block out the clashing of metal behind him, hiding behind a tree he clutched the scroll to his chest. He didn't understand it. Why did Mizuki-sensei lie to him? He had always been nice to him he even helped out when he had trouble with answering his exams granted he failed all of those.

He peeked down at the fighting that was going on, eyes widening when he saw Iruka-Sensei being pushed back. "WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING HIM IRUKA?" Mizuki-Sensei screamed. Naruto was confused. "HE IS THE KYU- "Don't finish that sentence Mizuki" Iruka-Sensei growled out "HE IS THE MONSTER THAT KILLED YOUR PARENTS. THE KYUUBI NO KITSUNE" Naruto froze at that the what? He was the Kyuubi? His eyes widened in realization. The looks of hatred, and the whispered words of Monster made sense now. He huddled into himself.

It was then Iruka's voice broke out filled with warmth "NARUTO is no monster, he is just a boy. Yes, at first even I thought he was one but he was just lonely he pulled pranks on almost everyone in the village but he was a hard working student so don't you dare say he is a Monster!". Naruto trembled his eyes glassy as tears slid down his face with abandon. He felt warm, Iruka-Sensei accepted him. He accepted Naruto as who he was.

Without doubt he jumped in front of Iruka taking on the Shurikan, he wasn't going to let Mizuki-Teme hurt someone precious to him. No way. And with that he formed the Cross seal, taking great satisfaction at the dumbfounded look on the bastards face.

He turned to look at Iruka-Sensei's smiling face feeling the warmth rising up in him again. "Close your eyes Naruto" and he did so. He felt something being tied on his forehead. Opening eyes he looked up at Iruka who now did not have a Forehead protector on but a wide smile lit his face up "Congratulations, Naruto You Pass."

Naruto sat in his bed staring at the forehead protector. He felt foolish. He had been easily fooled by Mizuki-Teme. What if that was an enemy. He would have been easily killed. Then how would have he become Hokage. He rolled to a side and winced as something dug into his thigh. Pulling it out he saw the scroll he had used earlier to copy the Jutsu down. Curious he opened it.

It spoke of some Jutsu called Mokuton and catra and water catra and earth catra. And some other things. The seal was a snake seal. The first step was to feel a plant.

Seeing as he would be unable to sleep that night he resolved to master this Jutsu. He sat in front of the small flower pot on the window sill. Closing his eyes he clapped his hands into the snake seal. He concentrated but he couldn't feel anything. Why wasn't it working? So he read the scroll again. Catra. Yes he had forgotten about catra. Closing his eyes once again he concentrated. This time focusing the catra to him. Aha. There. He felt a small spark. It was orange-ish yellowish and very weak. He there for hours. Reading the scroll again and again, adjusting the mistakes he felt were wrong and redoing them again.

When he noticed that it was morning he quickly made himself some cup ramen and drank some milk. A bit dazed he looked at the plant. At one point he felt it. Its life force was slipping slowly. Feeling a bit guilty he decided to go to the one person he knew would know what to do.

Some minutes later he stood at the Yamanaka Flower shop. Feeling a bit antsy. He hoped Sakura-Chan wouldn't see him here. Then she would hate him even more than now. Gulping he entered. "Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop. Please look around and Find a flower of your liking." Spoke a sweet voice. Naruto felt his voice hitch. It wasn't Ino who was there. No it was her mother. And she was still smiling at him. She hadn't screamed at him to leave. It left him shocked, she was not like the other villagers. "Ara, ara. Young man what can I do for you?" she asked still smiling.

Naruto gulped once again. "Ummm…Miss Ino's mom.. I need help." he sputtered out pushing the pot with the almost dead plant to her. "Hokage-Jiji gave it to me. But it's dying and…and I don't know how to make it better." He said teary eyed remembering the feelings coming off the plant the previous night.

Mrs. Yamanaka of course knew who stood in the shop. Uzumaki Naruto. Jinchuriki of Konoha. Truth be told in the beginning she had been terrified of the boy. How could such small body hold the Ginormous monster who destroyed half the village in seconds? So she ignored him like most did. But she had seen him grow as most of the village did. She saw him smile even in the face of the hatred. And nothing in her could genuinely fear him. Thirteen years had passed with no news of the Kyuubi breaking free. And that was enough for her fears to recede.

She had seen the boy linger before the shop, how his eyes widened upon seeing her and she saw him muster the courage to speak. Not to mention the sweet worried look he wore on his face now. He was almost too adorable with his chubby whiskered face and bright blue eyes. Holding herself back from hugging the soul out of the poor boy she inspected the plant. A crocus. How fitting she thought.

"Your flower is in a pretty bad shape. But not to worry. We Yamanaka's can fix any plant that is not dead" she added seeing his face drop. The change of expressions was almost comical.

"Really!" he asked eagerly a smile blooming on his face.

"Yes really. Leave with us for a week and you can come collect it later. I'll teach you how to take better care of it. Is that fine with you Naruto –Kun" She said a warm smile on her face.

Naruto nodded smiling widely. "Thank you, how much should I pay?" He asked shyly. She laughed at that. "No need for any of that." She said and waved him off. Naruto smiled widely and exited the shop promising to return a week later.

Walking through the village he ignored the looks directed at him. His mind on the new Jutsu. It was interesting. According to the directions written on it he should be able to grow a plant with it. That would be very cool. He could imagine how impressed Sakura-Chan would be if he grew a tree. Lost in his day dreaming he had made his way to a field. Closing his eyes he formed the snake seal. He felt overwhelmed. The plants reached out to him. Their light wasn't dim like the one in his house, but instead shone bright. Like a field of stars. Different feelings wafted to him but the main one was content. He sat there eyes closed a small smile on his face.

The week passed in a blur. It was time to go pick his plant up. He went in unsurely but Ino's mom was there with the same smile on her face. He offered a shaky smile feeling oddly shy. She handed the plant to him and instructed him on how to properly care for it. There was an amused twinkle on her face as she explained. He thanked her profusely and went back smiling.

Reaching his broken down apartment he carefully sat the plant down. Sitting next to it he checked on it. During the week he learned how to identify dying ones and healthy ones. He still did not know how to make it grow which frustrated him to no end but he was no quitter. He grinned once more feeling an illuminating light coming from the plant. Caught up with how it had dramatically changed he reached out with his catra and it grew even brighter. Surprised he opened his eyes, only to drop his mouth open. The previously flowerless plant had a bud. Excitement filled him as he realized he had completed the final task. The Jutsu was complete. He felt a bit disappointed at the result. It felt incomplete. But how could he learn more about this. He can't steal Jiji's scroll again. So he decided on a much more horrifying thing. Visiting the Shinobi library. He liked to read but the fact was that the Ninja in the Library usually threw him out before he could even check out one book. One more reason for his horrible scores were because he didn't really have the necessary books which were used to study for the exams. He looked at his appearance and frowned. They probably won't let him in.

"Henge" With a puff he was replaced with a boy of his age. But instead of blonde he had brown hair and green eyes. The whiskers were gone as well. He nodded at his reflection and made his way to the library. The librarian upon seeing the Forehead protector on his head nodded and asked him what he was looking for. His eyes widening when he said he was looking for something about Mokuton.

The librarian brought back a handful of books. Naruto's eyes widened on seeing that stack. But he was curious. So he took the books and sat down. Frowning at the big words and unfamiliar symbol. The librarian upon seeing he was having trouble reading offered to help him. Naruto thanked the man and almost hugged him. He picked up the words quickly and slapped his forehead when he realized he was saying Chakra wrong. Some Ninja he was. The librarian commanded he be back every day to improve his reading. "Oh and remove the Henge Naruto-san" he whispered as he was leaving. Naruto gave a sheepish grin and did so. "Arigato, Sazaki-San" he bowed to the man and ran back home.

The next week was much more interesting. He learned new things. He even picked up reading easily due to his clones. Who knew? The clones remember everything that happened. Which worked increasingly in Naruto's favor as Sazaki-san seemed determined he needed to learn to read. "If you don't know how to read properly how are you going to read solo mission scrolls?" He had asked, when that wasn't enough to motivate him he had bribed Naruto with Ramen. This Motivated Naruto to work even harder. It was Sazaki-san who pointed out that clones retain their memories as well.

"Why were you looking up on Mokuton Justus's if you don't even know about elemental Chakra?" Sazaki asked, but there was a knowing look in his eyes.

Naruto looked a bit peevish at that but seeing as Sazaki-san had helped him a lot he took Sazaki-san to the back of the library where a small garden was growing. He went to a small plant that was not fully grown and stood before it. Breathing in he did the snake seal.

Sazaki watched in amazement as the plant began to grow. It grew longer and even sprouted buds. The Mokuton! A voice screamed in his mind. The village's most prized Kekkei Genkai possessed by the village out cast. How ironic. He quickly grabbed Naruto's hand and dragged him inside.

Naruto watched as Sazaki-san walked back and forth mumbling slightly. "Listen here Naruto, don't tell anyone about this. This is dangerous. I'm sure you know by now how precious the Mokuton is. I saw you reading the scroll." He said. Naruto nodded at that. He had indeed read the scroll and was most surprised to discover it was a rare Kekkei Genkai. It wouldn't bode well with the villagers if they knew he had Mokuton. In addition to being the Jinchuriki. Another fact Sazaki told him of. HE was the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi No Kitsune. It hurt him that the Jiji kept it a secret but Sazaki-San explained the reason. The Jinchuriki were weapons of the village. Secret weapons and there were people who wanted to use him to do bad things and hunt him down.

"Now" began Sazaki-san "I just happen to know where some of the rare scrolls are kept in the library. It is no crime to read them- after all it is a Library" he said a wicked smile blooming on his face.

Naruto woke up a smile on his face. Ready to face the day. Quickly dressing up he made himself some Ramen and began his new routine. Checking on his plant. He carefully poured the necessary amount of water and brightened as he felt the light brighten. Content he ate his ramen and made his way to the academy.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" Asked Shikamaru as he entered. "Yeah Looser this is for the people who graduated" Kiba said lazily. Naruto smiled and pointed at his forehead protector "Guess what Suckers, Even I Passed." He said loudly. Shikamaru gave a small smile and went back to sleep and Kiba huffed and looked away.

"Want some chips?" offered Chouji. "Yeah" Naruto said picking a chip and sitting next to him. He looked around the class. Most of his class was absent, meaning they haven't passed. He saw Sasuke sulking in a corner and made a face at him.

"HA I WIN THIS TIME PIG" shouted a loud voice. Naruto Perked at the sound of the voice and stared as Sakura-Chan walked in. he waved at her but she ignored him and went to squeal near Sasuke. Ino followed her soon after screaming as well "Forehead, You cheater, you tripped me!" Ino screamed as well, trailing behind Sakura and joining the fawning girls. Disappointed at Sakura ignoring him Naruto lay back down on the desk. Ino had seemingly lost the small competition and slumped into the chair next to him. Naruto gave the other blonde a weird look. She had a small smile on her face. That was strange.

"CALM DOWN!" Screamed Iruka his big headed Jutsu active. "So today we will be dividing you into teams…. Team 1 Shizoku Ichiyama… Team 7: Haruno Sakura.. Uzumaki Naruto.." Sakura Glared at Naruto for a moment "Uchiha Sasuke your instructor Hatake Kakashi" and then cheered. Shikamaru sighed next to him and muttered "Troublesome"… "Team 8: Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino your instructor Yuuhi Kurenai… Team 9 is still active Team 10: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji your instructor Sarutobi Asuma. That's all. I wish you all good luck." He finished smiling at the newly graduated Genin.

They were told to comeback in an hour. Before Naruto could even open his mouth Sakura had walked off. "Hey, you want to join us" Asked the newly formed Team 10 and 8. Smiling Naruto accepted the offer. They went out to the meadow nearby. Shikamaru immediately went to sleep, Chouji began to munch on chips with Naruto joining him. Kiba and Akamaru were rolling on the grass. Ino rolled her eyes at them and sat near a tree with Hinata sitting down a bit away from her.

Ino looked around at them. The new Genin of Konoha. She felt a sense of pride being one to graduate. She looked at them one by one. She had been surprised by Naruto passing but didn't say anything more. He seemed different somehow. More subdued. There was something in his eyes that she never noticed. But he will never match up to Sasuke-Kun of course. She was deep in her thoughts of Sasuke she almost didn't notice Naruto stand and break away from the group.

Priding herself about knowing everything there was to know about people Ino decided to follow errr trail him. She followed him to some distance and hid behind a tree when he stopped. She watched curiously as Naruto bent down to look at a Flower? What! Bewildered she watched as he seemed to be speaking to the flower with the warmest look on his face. Looking closely Ino realized the flower was dying. She watched intrigued as he tended to it. With practiced motions he removed the dead leaves and tucked them into the soil around the plant, he then pulled out a water bottle and opened it. He seemed a bit unsure.

Unable watch Ino walked to him "You know those flowers don't need much water. So it's better not to pour it in the soil." She said walking to him. Startled Naruto looked up. "So how should I water it" he asked curiously. Ino grabbed the bottle from him and sprinkled the water on the leaves, "like that" she said handing the bottle back to him. She watched him close his eyes for a while and open them again smiling widely. "That was awesome." He said grinning widely at her. She blushed. So she diverted the attention "How did you know it was dying" She asked curiously. She knew boys her age tended to think Gardening to be a girly thing, it was very surprising to discover that Naruto was a closet gardener. "Your mom taught me. My plant was dying and she taught me how to take care of it. As for how I know it told me" He said grinning. "Pfft..Hahahah" Ino burst out laughing.

But she stopped seeing Naruto perform a hand sign. She was once again surprised when the withering flower bloomed once more revealing a purple lily. Ino gasped. What was that? Naruto laughed seeing the look on her face. He bent down and plucked it. Sniffing it he held it out to her. Ino looked at the flower then back at Naruto and back and forth. "This is for the help. The plant was grateful too" He said grinning goofily. Still in a daze she gently grasped the flower and looked at the smiling boy in front of her. This was not how she had expected to receive her first flower from a boy. Growing up around flowers she had always imagined Sasuke to come sweep her off her feet with a bouquet of her favorite flowers. "Thank you" She whispered smiling. Damn Forehead is lucky Came the thought unbidden to her. Wait why would I think Forehead of all people was lucky. She was so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice Naruto leave to join the rest of the group.

They returned back to class, Naruto arguing with Kiba about who could eat the most Ramen and Ino still dazed the purple Lilly gently held in her hands.

One by one the Sensei's came and picked them up till only Team 7 was left. They waited for several Hours and still no sign of the sensei. Naruto had gotten impatient and decided to prank the teacher. Sasuke huffed at that. "There is no way he would fall for that, Baka" Sakura screeched.

Another hour later a man entered the room the duster falling on his head releasing a puff of chalk dust.

"HE FELL FOR IT" Sakura said in disbelief. Naruto laughed till he fell off the chair and Sasuke's eyebrows twitched.

"My first impression of you…I don't like you. Meet me in the roof in 5 minutes." He said and disappeared.

Naruto grumbled as he ran up the stairs. The man was lazily leaning up the rails when he had reached the top reading a familiar looking orange book. He narrowed his eyes at it , jiji read the same books but he giggled and even passes out from nosebleeds after reading those. He had even caught Sasaki-san reading those.

"So let's introduce ourselves. Things like name likes, dislikes and dreams hopes" he listed off in that drowsy tone of his. "Why don't you go first Sensei" Sakura-Chan suggested, Naruto nodded at that. "Well My name is Hatake Kakashi..I have many likes and dislikes… my dreams are…well….My hobbies are reading." He said stunning all three Genin ALL WE LEARNED WAS HIS NAME! Naruto narrowed his eyes at his sensei once again. He had read about Hatake Kakashi of course, he was a student of the fourth Hokage.

"you first pinky" Sakura glowered at the man for that " My name is Haruno Sakura, My likes are Sasuke-Kun, training and gardening…My dislikes are" at this she glowered at Naruto and he flinched "Naruto-Baka, Ino- pig and my Dream is to…" a she glanced at Sasuke and turned pink. Naruto grumbled at that Sasuke went next and he was mumbling about killing someone and tomatoes.

Then it was his turn "AL RIGHT! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! My likes are Ramen, training and learning new Jutsu, My Dislikes are the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, people who judge without thinking and traitors." He says looking glum then he brightened up "MY dream is to be the BEST HOKAGE and have everyone acknowledge me. Believe it." He said grinning.

A/N Please don't forget to review. Your reviews fuel me literally. I'll try to update as regularly as possible until the end.