It was a sunny and peaceful day within Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves. Villagers walked to and from work, or school in the case of the children as life went on as normal within the village. Konoha existed within a territory known as The Land of Fire and was the largest such village in their territory. Other countries included: The Land of Wind, The Land of Stone, The Land of Iron, The Land of Lightning, and The Land of Waves among other smaller countries alongside other small countries. 'Fire Country' is where our story will focus for now. One couple in particular were running some errands within the village currently amongst the bustling activity of the village. This couple was of course Kizashi and Mebuki Haruno.
Kizashi was a salesman within the village, while also a shinobi. His wife, Mebuki, was involved with the civilian council at times simply to make ends meet. The two were simply taking a stroll through town on this particular day. It was just business as usual for the citizens in the leaf village. Little did they know that their whole world would be turned on it's head soon. Everyone, including them heard what sounded like loud whistling. There was something approaching their village from the sky, but... what was it? What could be making such an ear piercing noise as it raced through the sky? The villagers looked up, curious as to what could possibly be making such a sound. When they did look up, they were surprised at what they saw. A small dot that became a round space pod was seen speeding towards their village, they panicked before seeing the pod race over their village and towards the forest just outside of it. While this was a cause for momentary relief, it soon turned to worry again after the pod crashed in the forest outside of the village. The impact shook the ground for several moments before calming down.
This prompted even the current leader of the village, the 3rd Hokage to notice it. He raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.
"Hm? Now what could have that been I wonder..., "The older man wondered.
A white Robe with red lettering on the back of it in the kanji of 'fire shadow' was written upon it, and a wide brimmed hat laced with the same kanji only in black lettering upon a red background was worn by the man. The man had wrinkles, a result of his aged face. He had a balck shinobi suit on underneath the robe, but kept it hidden in case of emergencies. This was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the current Hokage of Konoha.
The door to his office suddenly opened as a young male jonin shinobi ran to check on him.
"Lord Hokage, sir!," the young man said.
Hiruzen turned towards the young man and smiled at him.
"Ah, Yamato glad to see that you are well.,"He said kindly.
Yamato then spoke.
"With all due respect sir, What.. What was that just now?,"Yamato asked.
Hiruzen adopted a thoughtful pose as if he was thinking about it.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, Yamato.,"He answered.
This concerned the young manas he voiced his thoughts on the matter.
"Do... you think it's an attack from Orochimaru or one of the other hidden villages?,"Yamato asked.
Hiruzen thought about this for a moment. It was true that he had enemies among the other hidden villages, but for them to send an attack at them so small seemed very unlikely. And.. the likelihood of Orochimaru conjuring up something like this was even more unlikely, he didn't have the chakra to hurl a flaming object towards konoha from such a great distance.
"No, Yamato. Whatever that object which flew over our heads was.., it was far too powerful for Orochimaru to have casted. Furthermore, it wouldn't have been another hidden village attacking us because they would never attack us unprovoked. It was too random for that.,"Hiruzen answered.
Yamato nodded, but then voiced another question that formed in his mind.
"So.. if it didn't come for Orochimaru, and it didn't come from any of the other villages... Where did it come from?,"Yamato asked.
Hiruzen sighed as he looked out of the window of his office.
"I wish I knew Yamato. That is why I need you jonin shinobis to go and investigate what the source of that noise was. ,"Hiruzen said.
Yamato nodded in understanding.
Several Shinobi, along with the Haruno couple then raced outside of Konoha to investigate the object that crash landed. The villagers were left wondering what exactly that round object in the sky really was. They'd find out soon enough however...
Time Skip: A little while later at the crash site....
When the Leaf's Shinobi arrived at the site of the crash, they were shocked at what they saw before them. Before them, was an enormous smoking crater. All of the plant life that was once there had been uprooted or burned, and the ground had been shaped into an enormous oval like casym. At the bottom of the crater with smoke and fire surrounding it was the small metal pod that had passed over their village earlier. The Shinobi looked at each other, unsure before deciding to approach the small spacecraft. Several of them jumped down into the large crater, being careful to maintain their balance. Kizashi and Mebuki joined the other Shinobi as they were also rather curious about the object at the bottom of this enormous crater. Upon reaching the bottom though, each of the Shinobi realized that metal spaceship was quite a bit larger than they realized. While it wasn't huge, it wasn't tiny either. It was slightly taller than the height of an adult man. They didn't bother going up to try and carry it, due to the pod still smoking a bit. The round object was more than likely still very hot in temperature. They'd wait for it to cool down first before approaching it.
"What do you think it is?," One of the shinobi's asked curious.
"I really don't know...We've never seen anything like this before.," Another said.
Mebuki looked to her husband and voiced her own opinion.
"Well, whatever this thing is.. One thing's for sure: It's not from around here, that's for sure.," Mebuki said.
Kizashi nodded.
"Agreed. I've never seen anything like this... whatever this thing is before.,"He said.
Each of the Shinobi were understandably hesitant to approach the strange craft from the sky, they opted to wait until they felt that it was safe to approach it. Just when they relaxed however..., the door to the pod suddenly opened. This made evryone take a defensive position in anticipation for what came out of the strange spacecraft. They couldn't exactly tell what came out at first, due to all of the steam and smoke escaping from the pod. The shinobi were surprised to see that the pod was...empty?
"What the? It.. was empty?!,"One shinobi asked flabbergasted.
Another then spoke up, directing all of the jonin's attention to the ground right in front of them.
"No it wasn't, look down at the ground in front of you!," another spoke as they pointed.
All of the shinobi looked down to see.. a baby? No, it was a toddler with orange hair and a... tail? Several eyebrows were raised in confusion as the small child crawled towards them briefly before plopping down on his bottom and staring at them curiously. The young toodler was dark skinned with spiked orange hair and black eyes to go with the brown monkey tail. The could tell the child was a male, due to its features. The child had very broad shoulders for a child as young as he was. And for some reason, he was wearing some rather bizzarre armor. While the other shinobi were unsure about approaching the small child, Kizashi and Mebuki didn't even think twice about it.
Kizashi was the first of the two to approach the young child as he knelt down to a knee to stay eye level with the child. They had a baby girl of their own, not much younger than this small child was.
"Why hello there, little one. What are you doing all the way out here?,"Kizashi asked.
The child looked at him curiously, not saying anything in response. Mebuki then approached the child with a smile as she spoke to him.
"Do you have a name, little one?,"She asked.
The toddler just looked at her, not saying anything. He was just looking at Mebuki curiously, tilting his head as he did. It was as if he was seeing something foreign for the first time and was unsure what do do.
Mebuki softly chuckled and picked up the small child, gently stroking his head.
"Aw, now aren't you just precious little one?,"Mebuki said cooing.
The other shinobi came over towards the Haruno family, surrounding them.
"You're certain this is alright?," an Anbu known as "cat" asked.
Kizashi smiled as the toddler continued looking at the shinobi curiously. Something odd then happened, the toddler smiled and laughed at them.
"We're certain. This little one needs a home after all. We can at least look after him until his parents come to find him.,"Kizashi reasoned.
The other jonin shinobi looked towards each other and nodded.
"Right.., I suppose that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for this little one.," A shinobi known as Asuma said.
"Yeah, there could be worse things that could happen I suppose.," a female ninja added.
"You sure about that, Kurenai? Souldn't we report this to lord third and the council first?,"Izumo asked.
Kurenai shook her head in response to this.
"Nah, It should be fine. Of course, I'm certain lord hokage already knows of the situation already. Besides.. This little one needs someone to take care of him. I think Kizashi and Mebuki are the perfect fit for that role." She said.
The other shinobi all nodded in agreement. As they began to discuss the matter amongst themselves. There was just one issue: Where were they going to put the strange pod this young child came in? As the jonin discussed it amongst themselves, it was ultimately concluded that they'd bury the pod within earth and greenery for the time being. They couldn't let just anyone get their hands on a foreign alien object. Kizashi took the dark skinned child into his arms as he and Mebuki looked at each other.
"How about we take you with us, little one?," Mebuki said smiling.
The small child seemed to look at them before tilting his head again out of curiosity. The couple then realized something: They didn't even know what this small child's name was. Unfortunately, they could not find any indication of a name on him. That... would make it a little.. difficult for them.
"But what to name you... though?,"Kizashi asked in question.
"Yes, we can't keep referring to this sweet little thing as just "You".,"Mebuki suggested.
Kizashi thought for a moment before studying the small child's features.
"Hm... Orange hair.. like... Fire...,"Kizashi thought to himself before speaking up. "How about Houjin, then?"
Mebuki looked to her husband before hearing a laugh from the small child. It seemed as though he liked the name.
"Houjin, huh? That means "Flame" in another language, right?,"Mebuki replied.
The child laughed again at the name. Mebuki smiled as she cooed at the small boy.
Kizashi smiled at the sight.
"It would seem that he likes the name.,"Kizashi said.
Mebuki smiled as she picked up the small child, holding him in her arms.
"My little Houjin... We'll take you to your new home, alright?,"She said smiling at him.
The small saiyan child now known as Houjin, laughed at her. The Haruno couple climbed out of the crater and began to make their way back towards Konoha. The Shinobi promptly buried the strange craft with earth and wood natured jutsu. In this way, no one would be able to discover it as it would simply look like a rock overtaken by moss and no one would be the wiser about it. As they walked, Mebuki felt something furry wrap around her arm. Looking down, she saw that the small child's tail had wrapped around her arm as he was now sleeping. She smiled at this and kissed his forehead. It had been a desire of hers to have a little boy of her own someday when she was a mother. She was very happy with the baby girl they had, but now her baby girl had an older brother. She couldn't wait to introduce her baby girl to her big brother.
Time Skip: 12 years later....
It was morning within the Haruno Household, a certain pink haired girl was seen coming down the stairs. This girl was of course the younger of the two Haruno children, Sakura. She had slept in late and now was running late for School. A certain voice then called to her as she stumbled towards the door.
"Sis, come on! We're going to be late if you don't hurry it up!,"The voice said.
Sakura sighed before she answered.
"Alright, Alright I'm coming!,"Sakura answered.
She was annoyed at the moment, but deep down she knew that she could never stay mad at her big brother. He was just far too nice. That was something that worried her though, he was too nice for his own good. She smiled as she rushed out of the door, following her brother. Although they were brother and sister, the two of them couldn't have looked any more different from one another if they tried to. They'd already received a number of questioning and skeptical looks through their time in the leaf ninja academy so far. Today was the last day before they would graduate to become shinobi. She waved to her parents as she followed Houjin.
"Guess we'll see you later mom and dad!,"Sakura said as she dashed off after her brother.
The two parents chuckled as they watched their two children race out of the door.
"What are we going to do with those two?,"Mebuki said chuckling.
Kizashi put his hand upon his wife's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around.
"This is what we hoped for, isn't it? We should be happy our two children get along as siblings.," Kizashi said.
Mebuki nodded as they watched their two children run along to school in the distance. They sat for a moment before Mebuki spoke again, drawing attention to something that they knew their children would have to know one day soon.
"You know we're going to have to tell Houjin what he is soon, don't you?,"Mebuki asked.
Kizashi sighed before agreeing with his wife.
"Yes, I know. Houjin's a smart boy, he'll figure out that he's different from all of his peers soon enough. And he'll begin to question why.. that is.. if he hasn't already started to. I'll talk to our son privately about this.,"Kizashi said.
Mebuki nodded in agreement.
"Whatever you think i best, dear. Chances are since Houjin and Sakura are so close to each other.. as siblings should be, this'll be harder on her than it will be for Houjin himself.,"Mebuki said.
Kizashi agreed and nodded.
"Which is why we will keep what Houjin really is a secret from her.. for the time being. We don't know how she would react if she suddenly found out that Houjin isn't really her brother.,"Kizashi suggested.
Mebuki gained a pained and worried look upon her face at this. She sighed in resignation.
"Yes, I suppose you are right about that dear... I just hope our two kids can have somewhat normal lives..," Mebuki admitted.
Kizashi nodded as they watched their kids run off towards school.
Down the street, Houjin and Sakura were running as fast as they could to get to class on time. The dark skinned boy knew they'd need a miracle to to get to school on time, that's when he had an idea. It was a gamble, but it would make up time. Houjin suddenly ran up behind his sister, picked her up bridal style and began to run. This caught Sakura by surprise as she was seen slightly blushing out of embarrassment.
"B-Brother w-what are you doing?!"Sakura asked embarrassed.
"No time to explain, just hang on tight sis!," Houjin said.
Sakura did as instructed,holding onto her brother's shirt a little tighter. Houjin looked left, then right before smirking and increasing his speed.
"Good, no one's around.. SUPER SPEED!" Houjin said as he zoomed down the street Sakura screaming the whole way.
Time skip: a few minutes later...
Houjin and Sakura arrived at the ninja academy in plenty of time as the boy finally set his sister down onto her feet.
"Whew! Made it with time to spare.," Houjin said.
Sakura looked at him with a pouty look on her face.
"Nii san! Look at what you made me do.. my hair's all frizzy now..," Sakura pouted.
Houjin looked towards his sister apologetic, he knew how particular she was about her hair.
"Oh yeah..., sorry sis. Kinda forgot you just did it this morning.," Houjin said.
She puffed her cheeks in a pout.
"Next time.. don't do that again, nii san.. it'll mess up my hair again.," Sakura said.
"Okay, deal. Won't do that again... as long as you promise not to tell anyone about what i just did, okay sis?," Houjin replied.
Sakura sighed and smiled. She couldn't stay mad at her brother, no matter what he did.
"Okay, deal. But you have to help me fix my hair as punishment for messing it up.," Sakura answered.
Houjin smirked.
"My, my, devious aren't you, sister?," Houjin chuckled.
Fortunately, they had time for Houjin to help Sakura with her hair before school started. It only took a few minutes, but Sakura enjoyed it when her brother brushed her hair... it was calming to her.
With that out of the way, they both entered the building ready for class to start.
Small time skip...
Sakura and Houjin entered the classroom together, but each sat separate from one another to give each other some space. Sakura sat with a group of her friends that consisted of a blonde named Ino Yamanaka, both of the Hyuga sisters (Hinata and Hanabi), Kazumi Uzumaki (Naruto's sister), and Midori Uchiha (Sasuke's Sister). While Houjin sat by himself,which made Sakura and a certain other girl a little sad.
Sasuke avoided him cuz well he's a brooder, Choji didn't really know him yet, Shikimaru thought it'd be a drag to have all the attention on him, Kiba could care less, Neji thought it was a waste of time, Rock lee was thinking about other things, and Naruto was.. in his own little world. Kiba's cousin noticed him though and thought it was odd no one sat by him.
"Perhaps I can find out why he's being avoided later...," he thought.
"Hey Sakura!," Ino greeted her friend.
Sakura smiled and greeted Ino as well while stealing glances towards her brother.
"Oh, hey Ino!," Sakura greeted.
Ino followed her line of sight.
"Your brother's still being given the cold shoulder, huh?," Ino asked.
Sakura nodded dejected.
"Yeah... what I don't get is why. Nii san is the kindest boy I know. So why would anyone purposely avoid him?," Sakura said abit frustrated.
"You know, I've been wondering about that too myself.," another voice said.
It was revealed to be Kazumi Uzumaki, Naruto's sister.
Sakura sighed and had a worried look on her face.
"Is there a reason your brother doesn't say anything back to those who are giving him the cold shoulder?," Kasumi asked.
"Yeah there is. And I already know what Houjin Nii san would say if he knew I was concerned about it.," Sakura replied.
"What would he say?," a voice revealed to be Midori (Sasuke's Sister) asked curiously.
"He'd say not to worry about it, cause it happens all the time to him. People for... whatever reason just treat him poorly because he looks a little different than the rest of the villagers.," Sakura said.
"And he just takes that verbal abuse like it's nothing?," Ino asked.
Sakura nodded.
Kasumi then spoke again after some thought about Sakura's brother's response.
"Sakura, it could just be a guess but... have you considered that maybe he just doesn't want to worry you?," Kasumi suggested.
Sakura became quiet as she hadn't really thought of that.
"No, I guess not.," Sakura replied.
The conversation would die down when Iruka came into the room.
"Alright everyone, I know you all are excited about the thought of graduating the academy. But let's settle down and focus on our lessons today.," Iruka said.
"Yes, Iruka sensei.," The class repeated.
The rest of class was pretty uneventful as the day seemed to quickly pass by.
Time skip: later...
Class had dismissed for the day with Sakura waving good bye to her group of friends. She ran up to walk beside her brother as they headed home for the day.
"Nii san, can I... ask you something?," Sakura asked Houjin.
The dark skinned boy looked towards his adoptive sister and smiled before humoring her curiosity.
"Sure, sis. What's up?," He answered.
She wasn't sure how to ask what she wanted to know without him being suspicious. So Sakura figured it was best just to be honest with him.
"You're... getting bullied by the other kids because you look different, aren't you?," Sakura asked.
Houjin sighed and patted Sakura's head. Figures she'd find out eventually. Sakura was smart for her age, so it was only a matter of time until she found out about it.
"Guess I can't really hide anything from you, can I? You were going to find out eventually. Thought I hid the fact pretty well, but we can see how that turned out.," Houjin replied.
Sakura gained a bit of a concerned look on her face.
"Why didn't you just tell me, Nii san?," She asked upset.
"Sorry Sis, I... just didn't want you to worry was all. The others just... don't understand me yet, I'm sure they'll come around eventually.," He said.
"Nii san..." Sakura said worried.
"But.. lately I have begun to wonder why I'm different than the other kids in our village. Think I'll talk to Dad and ask him.," Houjin said.
"Should we tell mom too?," Sakura asked.
Houjin shook his head.
"No sis. I really don't want to worry mom. So don't worry about it too much.," Houjin told her smiling.
Sakura sighed and nodded.
"Okay, if you think that's best, Nii san..," Sakura said.
The two Haruno siblings then headed back to their family's home for the evening. Sakura wanted to help her adoptive elder brother, but she knew that he just wanted to not worry her so much. She would do as he wished for her to and not do anything, though it still hurt her to think of what her kind brother was going through. He was being treated the same as a certain blonde haired kid in her class, no, maybe even worse than that. Sakura shook her head trying not to think about it. For now, she'd try to support her brother as much as she could until she was able to do something.
That evening, the Haruno's sat in mild silence at the dinner table, Kizashi immediately knew why this was based on Houjin and Sakura's countenance. He simply rose from the table before looking to Houjin.
"If you're done eating, son, I'd like you to come with me. We need to have a talk.," Kizashi said.
Houjin nodded and did as instructed before turning to mebuki and sakura briefly.
"Thanks for dinner, mom, sis. We'll be back I guess?," Houjin said unsure and a little nervous.
Mebuki chuckled and waved for her son to follow her husband.
"Go on, son. I think your father only wishes to speak to you about something.," Mebuki said chuckling.
Houjin nodded and left the room to follow Kizashi. Sakura looked to her mother in slight concern.
"Is Nii san going to be alright, Kaasan (mother)?," Sakura asked.
Mebuki smiled at her daughter and reassured her that everything would be alright.
"Not to worry, Sakura. Your brother will be fine. This is just something we should have told your brother much sooner than now.," Mebuki replied.
Now Sakura really wanted to know what they were talking about. However, she knew that they'd tell her soon enough so it was best not to bother her brother and Father.
With Kizashi and Houjin
Kizashi and Houjin took a seat at a bench as they had taken a short walk through the village. It was evening and most of the villagers were already at home, so chances were low that anyone would overhear their conversation.
"Can I... ask you something, father?," Houjin began the conversation.
Kizashi turned to look at his adoptive son and nodded with a smile.
"Of course, son. What do wish to ask me?," Kizashi replied.
Houjin sighed before putting into words what was on his young mind.
"Why.. am I so different than the other villagers? You, mom, sis, her friends, and even the kids at school... Why do the villagers look at me like I'm some freak of nature?" Houjin asked.
Kizashi sighed as the smile left his face. His poor boy... No wonder he'd been so silent at the table. He was victim of bullying by other kids... and.. villagers. Internally, it disgusted him to think that the villagers thought of Houjin in this way.
"I see.. So you've noticed. I should start by telling you this son: I don't care what anyone else says or thinks about you. You're my son first and foremost. Family is more than just blood. I love you just as much as your sister and nothing will change that. Besides, your sister adores her big brother and worries about him. I don't think she'd trade you for anyone else as her brother." Kizashi said before continuing.
Houjin listened as his father continued.
"Your mother and I knew this day would come though.. and frankly, we dreaded it. As you've noticed, you're not exactly... "normal". You do have a tail after all. We found you as a toddler.," Kizashi said.
"So you did adopt me.," Houjin said.
Kizashi nodded.
"And it was the best decision your mother and I could have ever made. That said, follow me. I need to show you something.," Kizashi said.
Houjin got up and followed his adoptive father as they walked towards the outskirts of the village, passing by the pair of shinobi stationed at the gate. Since they recognized them, they simply waved to the father and son who waved back.
Houjin was rather curious as to why they were heading into the forest until he saw an enormous mound of dirt and foliage. Upon inspection, he noticed the moss was growing around something, a spherical object that was a little strange.
"Dad... what is that thing?," Houjin asked.
"This.. my son is what you came to us in as a toddler.," Kizashi explained.
Houjin had a strange sense of deja vu, like he knew what the strange object in front of him was. That's when everything seemed to click in his head. He knew what this thing was.
"Dad.. this is the spaceship i came in as a toddler, isn't it?," Houjin asked.
Kizashi nodded.
"It is, but I'm surprised you know that, son.," He said.
"Yeah... it's weird, but somehow when I saw it... I just... knew that's what it was. Don't ask me how I knew, I just did. How odd...," Houjin replied.
Kizashi then spoke again.
"Must be due to your origins. This ship must be a piece of it, which is why you recognized it. " Kizashi told him.
"So.. I really am an alien, aren't I?," Houjin asked. "In other words.."
Kizashi nodded.
"That's correct, you're not human, Houjin." He answered. "But, that doesn't change that you're my son."
Houjin and Kizashi then embraced each other.
"Thank you... father. I needed to hear that.," Houjin replied.
"You're welcome, son. Actaully, on that note: this is for you.," Kizashi said giving him a strange set of armor.
Author's Note: it's the armor Broly has in the DBS Broly movie.
"Armor?," Houjin asked.
Kizashi nodded.
"I was supposed to give you this when you graduated. Think of it as an early graduation gift from me.," Kizashi chuckled.
Kizashi then turned to walk back.
"I think we've kept your mother and sister waiting, long enough don't you?," Kizashi said.
Houjin nodded and followed Kizashi back through the gates of Konoha and back towards their home. He was glad he and his father had this talk. Houjin felt a little bit better about himself now. He didn't know what kind of alien he was, but that didn't matter. He was his father's son before he was anything else.
Time skip: The next morning...
As usual, Houjin and Sakura raced out of the house on their way to school for the graduation. Their parents would follow later. For now, the kids rushed to school so they would be on time today.
Sakura smiled as she noticed her brother was in a much better mood today. Apparently whatever he and her father talked about last night must have taken away his worries and doubts. That was good. She loved seeing her brother in high spirits.
She turned her head to look at him.
"You're in high spirits, Nii san. Did whatever you and father talk about last night help?," Sakura asked.
Houjin nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I'd say it helped alot. Sorry for worrying you, sis.," Houjin replied.
Sakura giggled.
"Nii san, you don't have to apologize. I'm just glad you're feeling better. Silly Nii san.," Sakura said lightly giggling.
The two siblings finally arrived at the academy, prepared for the day ahead of them. Nodding to each other, they headed inside the building.
All of the kids were seen to be lined up to accept their head bands, proof of their graduation from the academy. Well, all except one kid. A young blonde haired kid watched from a distance on a swing, his blue eyes were downcast like he was depressed.
This kid was Naruto Uzumaki, he sat there depressed and looking to the ground. This was something Houjin noticed immediately. Of course, all of the village adults were heard to be criticizing him, saying things like "It would be a disgrace if he were made a shinobi." Houjin didn't agree with that, but kept quiet as he watched the kid in the distance.
One girl noticed this and her heart went out to him. This girl was revealed to be Hinata Hyuga. She wanted to go over and talk to the boy, but she knew her father would never allow it. Hinata reluctantly stayed silent, despite what she desired to do. All she wanted to do was to befriend that boy. Ever simce she was 5 years old, she'd taken to watching him from a distance and secretly supporting him. This was a result of Naruto saving her some years ago.
Hanabi, who was named Hyuga Clan Heiress after defeating her sister in a taijutsu match was next to her. She was also waiting to graduate the ninja academy at her father's suggestion. She noticed the darker skinned boy next to Sakura and raised an eyebrow before remembering that was Sakura's brother. What confused her was the feeling of immense chakra coming from Houjin, which was... odd to say the least. No single person could have the amount of chakra she was sensing at 13 years of age. The thought was ludicrous! What was odd was just how much bigger Houjin was compared to the rest of the students, he was huge!
She turned ans whispered to her father.
"Father, do you mind if I talk to miss Sakura's brother afterwards? Something about him is strange and I wish to find out what that is.," She asked him.
Hiashi nodded towards her. He didn't mind that. He was curious about the boy too. The boy was certainly different than the others not merely physically, there was also his... tail? He shook his head and looked again to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. After looking again, it was still there. That meant, it was real alright.
As long as Hanabi told him about her conversation with the boy afterwards, Hiashi thought it was alright for her to talk to him.
Naruto sat in silence as he watched the other kids graduate and get congratulations from their families in return, he didn't have anything like that. Sure, he had his sister but she was a hero for keeping the nine tailed fox contained. Meanwhile, he was mocked, scorned, and vilified for containing the other half of the fox. Which didn't make sense to Kasumi at all. Maybe they just wanted someone to blame and Naruto fit that bill, so he received the full weight of all the village's scorn and anger towards the beast for destroying their village 12 years ago.
Having enough of the villager's insults and jeering towards him, the boy walked away from the hill he was on. Kasumi, who was surrounded by villagers and other kids, looked on with a sad smile towards her brother.
"Why? Why is it always this way? Everyone praises me, while my brother gets all of the blame for something none of us have control of." Kasumi thought sadly.
Naruto walked away from the scene with his sister saddened by how he was being treated.
Naruto P.O.V.
Author's Note: We're switching to Naruto's perspective for a little bit.
I was tired of the villagers constant insults towards me, so I left the academy in favor of a change of scenery. I started towards the place where I stayed at with my sister, not knowing what I was going to do for the rest of the day. Kasumi wouldn't be home for a little while, so no one would be waiting for me at home.
I sighed. What a depressing thought as if my day wasn't already bad enough. As I walked, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and ended up bumping into someone. Getting up to my feet, I could tell that it was a woman but I didn't see her face. Wel.. not entirely. The only thing I could see was her mouth, due to the cloak she had on.
"Are you alright, kid?," the woman asked.
"Yeah, I'm okay.," I answered.
She smiled and then ruffled my hair.
"Well that's good. You take care of yourself, alright kid?," She said before walking away.
That encounter was odd to say the least. I wasn't sure who that lady was, but she was really nice compared to all the other adults in the village. I continued on my way home after that, knowing I had plenty of time before sis got home. Hopefully no one tries to attack me on the way there, but you never know because of how much the village seems to hate me for whatever reason..
"I'll show them... I'll show them all! Once I become Hokage, everyone will have to acknowledge me! Then we'll see who's laughing!," I told myself as I made my way home.
End P.O.V.
Back at the Academy...
Meanwhile, back at the academy, everyone had received their headbands for graduating the leaf village's ninja academy. This included Houjin, much to the displeasure of some gathered there. Sakura had received hers as well and was excited for it, though she was even more excited for her brother and for the boy she had a crush on. This certain crush of hers, was of course Sasuke Uchiha. He was the coolest kid in the academy aside from her brother in her opinion. This boy was also the one she and several of the other girls in class were in love with. Everything was prfect about him in their eyes. Of course, not all of the girls felt this way about Sasuke. The very few girls who didn't feel this way about the uchiha were Midori (obviously, cause that would be a little weird as his sister in this story), Hanabi, Hinata, Ten Ten, and Kasumi. The aforementioned Uzumaki girl was well liked, but she apparently saw something within Sasuke that she didn't like. Kasumi had her eye on another boy, a certain cousin of Kiba's named Kazuna. He the most briliant shade of black hair and a matching tail, these made him look cute in her opinion. Kasumi had secretly been crushing on him for awhile now, ever since she was 8 years old. For the better part of 4 years, she'd been content to simply watch him from a distance. Now though, she wanted to get to know the boy better in hopes of becoming friends. And once they were old enough, she could then confess her feelings to him. Kasumi graduated with the rest of class too, but she was angry that they didn't even give her brother the opportunity to do so. How much more were these people going to take from him? It was infuriating! She had part of the nine tailed fox sealed inside of her too. So why was it, these people had to be so mean towards her brother? It wasn't fair at all! Her brother hadn't done anything to them to warrant such violent behavior towards him. She'd had enough and had half a mind to teach these villagers a lesson, one they rightly deserved. But she then remembered the words of Iruka.
"These people are just afraid. They're afraid of you two because they don't understand both of you yet. They may have accepted you, but they don't understand Naruto and fear him. Humans judge things harshly that they don't understand."
Those words played in Kasumi's mind whenever she thought about giving the villagers a piece of her mind. She'd be lenient towards them, but for how much longer she really couldn't say.
Once graduation had concluded, Hanabi walked over to Houjin. This caught the boy's attention, making him face her. Knowing that she wanted to talk to him he looked towards Sakura, Kizashi and Mebuki.
"Hey, sis can you do me a favor?," He asked her.
Sakura looked towards him.
"Sure. What is it, Nii san?," Sakura asked.
"This girl wants to talk to me for some reason, so can you let mom and dad know that I'll be back a bit later?," He replied.
Sakura looked between her brother and Hanabi and back to her brother before nodding.
"Okay. Just don't take too long, okay Nii san?," Sakura replied.
Houjin chuckled before ruffling Sakura's hair slightly.
"Sure sis, i'll try not to take too long.," Houjin said.
Sakura then waved goodbye to her brother before she walked away with her parents. After Sakura had left, Houjin turned to face the younger of the two Hyuga sisters.
"So.. you wanted to talk?," He asked.
Hanabi nodded.
"Yes. If you don't mind.," Hanabi replied.
"I have some time. Mind if we walk and talk?," Houjin asked her.
"Sure, I don't mind that.," Hanabi answered.
The two then began to walk as they began to chat with each other, albeit briefly.
"You call Sakura sister even though the two of you look nothing alike... why is that?," she started.
"Because she is my sister. True, I may not be related to her by blood or anything, but Sakura's still my little sister.,"Houjin answered.
Hanabi raised an eyebrow at this.
"Not related by blood you say? So you're adopted then?," Hanabi asked curious.
Houjin nodded.
"I am. But isn't family more than just the blood that ties individuals together?," Houjin said countering her question.
Hanabi was silent for a moment, this boy gave her some things to think about. She then asked him something that he was not expecting her to.
"I've noticed that you're also not looked upon favorably by the others and even insulted by them. But you never say anything or do anything back to them. Don't those claims they're putting on you falsely bother you at all?," Hanabi asked.
Houjin wasn't expecting that question, but answered it the best way he knew how to at the moment.
"Honestly, I'd be lying if I said they didn't. But... I am my father's son before anyhting else. As long as I know that, they can say whatever they want but it doesn't change who I am and how my family sees me.," Houjin said. "After all, what good will come from pandering to other people's expectations when you aren't like what they expect?"
Hanabi became quiet as she considered Houjin's answers to her questions.
"This boy... He's more than meets the eye. It'll be interesting to see if he can keep that confidence.," Hanabi thought.
The girl spotted her clan's aide waiting for her.
"Thank you for the discussion. You've... given me a lot to consider. I'll see you tomorrow I suppose.," Hanabi said as she departed.
Houjin then turned and made his way towards his home, knowing his family was waiting for him.
With Hinata...
Meanwhile, Hinata headed home for the day. As she walked, she bumped into someone. That someone was Kasumi, the sister of Naruto Uzumaki.
"Ah! Hinata, are you okay?," Kasumi asked.
Hinata nodded to reassure her friend.
"Y-yes, I'm fine. Thank you, Kasumi., " Hinata said nodding.
"Ah, it's no problem Hinata. After all, we are friends, aren't we?" Kasumi said.
Hinata nodded in agreement. They were friends, best friends in fact. One way or another, Kasumi had found out that Hinata had a huge crush on her brother, Naruto. She had then offered to give the shy girl some advice on how to win him over. After that initial meeting, the two girls really hit it off and have become the best of friends. Hinata had also befriend her crush through Kasumi, due to the girl being his sister.
"So how's Hanabi doing these days, Hinata?," Kasumi asked casually striking up a conversation.
Hinata looked down slightly before answering.
"She's been busy training with Father. We haven't been allowed off the clan's estate that much very much recently. I feel bad for Hanabi though.. By me failing as the clan Heiress, I pushed all of the responsibility, weight, and expectations of the position onto her.," Hinata replied.
Kasumi sighed.
"Hinata, stop that. I'm sure Hanabi doesn't blame you for any of that, so stop attacking yourself for it, okay?" Kasumi replied.
Hinata nodded and reluctantly did as her friend asked. She knew Kasumi wouldn't give up until you did what she said. Hinata arrived at her clan's estate and waved goodbye to Kasumi, her friend continuing on towards her house. As she entered the estate, she began to think about what she and Kasumi had discussed earlier. She decided right then and there that she'd talk to Naruto the next time she saw him.
With Naruto...
Naruto was still depressed, he'd failed the graduation test for the third time. He wanted so badly to become a shinobi, but didn't see any way that was possible now. That may have been his last chance at ever becoming a shinobi, at least in his mind. That's when he recieved a light tap on the shoulder by someone.
Turning to see who it was, Naruto looked in the direction where he felt the gesture coming from. It was revealed to be his homeroom teacher, Iruka Umino. The one who was also his surrogate big brother figure.
" Why the long face, Naruto?," Iruka asked concerned.
When Naruto turned to face him, Iruka saw that there was almost no life left in the blonde's eyes. That.. wasn't a good sign.
All his hopes of graduating, becoming a ninja, climbing up the ranks, and getting people to finally acknowledge him wete essentially dashed now.
"Oh, hey Iruka Sensei...," Naruto replied almost lifeless.
This made Iruka even more concerned aboyt the blonde, he had to get Naruto back to his old self. Fortunately, he knew just what would do the trick.
"Tell you what, why don't I treat you to some Ichiraku's? I know it's your favorite, after all.," Iruka offered.
As soon as the blonde haired boy heard this, the life instantly came back into his eyes and a big cheesy grin plastered itself to his face.
"Well? What are we waiting for then?! Come on, Sensei!," Naruto said as he rushed off with a trail of dust coming from behind him.
Iruka couldn't help but to sweat drop at this, wondering how one person can recover THAT quickly just at the thought of some Ichiraku Ramen.
"Alright Naruto, I'm coming. Wait up.," Iruka said following the boy who dashed towards the famous ramen stand.
Houjin and Kizashi decided that they'd get something to celebrate Houjin graduating the leaf ninja academy. Perhaps ironically, they decide on going to Ichiraku's to grab a bite. They'd celebrated as a family with Mebuki and Sakura already, but Kizashi wanted to celebrate with his son one on one. They had no idea that a certain blonde jinchuriki was heading there as well. Once the father and son had arrived there, they placed their order and sat down. Kizashi had found out the hard way about how large his son's appetite was through their celebration meal at home earlier. Houjin had promised his dad to hold it back a bit this time. He would only eat 5 or 10 bowls, as opposed to his normal 20 to 30 bowls. While the two of them waited for their orders, Houjin immediately recognized Naruto and decided to strike up a conversation with him in the interim.
"Hey, aren't you that blonde kid the villagers talk about?," Houjin asked.
Naruto looked at Houjin as a very skeptical look crossed his face.
"Yeah, what about it? You going to make fun of me too?," Naruto asked cautious.
Houjin shook his head.
"Heck, no. In fact, I think it's pretty rad that you take all the junk they say about you without retaliating. It takes a special kind of crazy to do that. And THAT is what real strength is... at least in my opinion anyways.," Houjin replied.
Naruto's face lit up when he heard what Houjin said.
"You really think so?," Naruto asked optimistic.
Houjin nodded.
"I know so. I... have had a similar experience not so different from yourself in all honesty. The villagers hate me too for some reason, though I don't know why. Oh! Name's Houjin by the way, Houjin Haruno. ," Houjin responded.
Naruto raised a confused eyebrow at this.
"Haruno?", He thought. "Where do I know that name from?"
Naruto's eyes then widened when it suddenly came to him like a ton of bricks.
"What the-?! You mean YOU'RE Sakura chan's brother?!," Naruto asked surprised.
Houjin nodded and chuckled.
"Yeah, that's me. And.. please don't fault my sis for how she's treated you, she... just doesn't understand you yet. Give her some time and I'm sure she'll be nicer. " Houjin said. "Anyways, I've told who I am. What about you?"
"Me? My name's Naruto Uzumaki, believe it! I'll become Hokage someday and change this village! And as for Skura chan, don't worry about it. I'm just glad she acknowledges me at all.," Naruto answered.
Houjin smirked at him and the two boys bumped fists.
"I don't doubt you will. In fact, I'd like to help you achieve that dream if i can. Whenever you could use some help, just holler. I've got your back!," Houjin said.
Naruto smirked back at him.
"Heh, sure works for me pal!," Naruto said as the two boys bumped their fists again to seal their friendship.
Both Iruka and Kizashi smiled at this, they knew these two boys had come to a mutual understanding. Furthermore they would be friends for a long, long time to come.
The food had finally arrived as both pairs of customers thanked mister Teuchi and Ayame (his daughter) for the food before digging in. Iruka was surprised by how much Houjin could eat after he had very quickly put away 10 big bowls of ramen like it was nothing.
"This kid could give choji a run for his money if he eats this much...," Iruka thought with a nervous bead of sweat coming down the back of his head.
Houjin gently set down his bowls and chopsticks before clasping his hands and thanking the cooks for the food. He and Kizashi rose to their feet before saying their farewells to Naruto and Iruka.
"We'd better get going now, son. WE wouldn't want your mom and sister to be cross with us.," Kizashi said.
Houjin nodded.
"Right. That wouldn't do for either of us.," Houjin agreed.
He turned and waved farewell towards Naruto.
"See ya around Naruto, and keep on trying. I'm sure you achieve your dream!," Houjin said before walking away with Kizashi.
Naruto also waved bye to the dark skinned boy before noticing something. Was he seeing things, or did Houjin have a... tail? He rubbed his eyes just to make sure before shaking his head. Nah, there was no way! Sure enough after looking again.. it was still there. That... definitely wasn't something you see everyday. The tail even looked real too! Not that he'd ever try to touch it, cause that'd just be weird. No wonder he felt so at ease when speaking to Houjin. People probably thought he was a freak of nature too because of his hair color and the fact that he had ... a tail! Naruto was certain that he'd see Houjin before too long though. Little did he know how soon exactly that would be.
Elsewhere...
It was evening now and Hiashi had asked to see Hanabi. He wished to know how her conversation with the boy with flame colored hair went. He made sure that it was only the two of them. He wasn't the clan leader right now, he was just Hanabi's father. Hanabi came into his study to speak with him on the matter.
"You asked to see me, father?," She asked.
He nodded.
"I wish to know how your conversation with the Haruno boy went earlier.," Hiashi said.
Hanabi nodded and began to explain how their conversation went and of what they talked about.
"He gave me some very interesting answers, ones I would never think he'd come up with.," Hanabi told her father.
He nodded.
"I see. And what of the relation between him and the Haruno girl?," Hiashi asked.
"They're brother and sister, though not related by blood.," Hanabi answered.
Hiashi raised an eyebrow.
"Not related by blood? So then he's..," Hiashi began.
"Adopted in to the Haruno family, yes. Apparently, Sakura sees Houjin as her legitimate older brother.," Hanabi replied.
Hiashi nodded again, as if storing that info for later on.
"What of his treatment by the villagers?," He asked.
Hanabi sighed and shook her head.
"They don't like him. He's treated the same as, if not worse than the Uzumaki boy is. But he doesn't do or say anything back to them." She replied.
Hiashi's face gained abit of scowl upon hearing that. These people had no shame, did they? And yet... there was one thing still weighing on his mind before he could draw a conclusion.
"And what of that strange chakra you were telling me you felt from him?," Hiashi asked.
Hanabi hesitated for a second before revealing what she felt.
"There's... definitely something odd about his power, but that's just it. What I sensed from Houjin... it didn't look like any chakra I've ever seen before.," she said.
"What do you mean by that?," Hiashi asked.
"It's a little hard to explain what exactly it was that I saw, father. I'll need to investigate it a bit more before I can put it into words.," Hanabi said.
Hiashi nodded and smiled at Hanabi.
"Oh, very well. I understand Hanabi. We'll continue this after you can tell me what it is that you saw.,"Hiashi answered.
"Thank you, father.," Hanabi said.
He send Hanabi on her way back to her training as he then pondered the info he'd gained.
"Hm... i see. This Houjin seems to be a rather interesting boy if he's caught the attention of Hanabi. I'll have to keep an eye on him.," Hiashi said in thought.
Elsewhere...
Later that night, Naruto was by himself when he was approached by Mizuki. The Jonin had preyed on Naruto's feelings of loneliness by telling him that he knew of a way to graduate the leaf ninja academy. That way was to steal the scroll of sealing and learn the techniques within it.
Naruto, being the trusting boy that he was, trusted Mizuki and did exactly as the jonin predicted that he would. Unfortunately, this turned into quite the opposite when the Anbu found out about what had happened. This backed Naruto into a corner as he was then forced to run from the Anbu who were searching high low in order to capture him. Mizuki had betrayed the poor boy and now he was on the run from the village authorities.
Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, already knew what was happening though. He was very uncharacteristically calm about the situation, despite the severity of it. He acted as if he knew the whole situation would just 'sort itself out'.
Naruto, meanwhile had found a place to hide with the scroll. He tightened his fists in anger.
"Why Mizuki sensei? Why?!," Naruto thought through bitter tears.
He felt betrayed by the elder jonin. The boy had hoped he was different, turned out, he was just like everyone else who hated him. Why couldn't he catch a break? He just needed someone, anyone to stand up for him just this one time! Naruto didn't know he wasn't supposed to take the scroll of sealing, no one told him not to!
That's when Iruka found him. Naruto was scared that he'd treat him like everyone else did, but Iruka didn't. He just talked to the boy in an effort to calm him down. Mizuki watched this with an angered expression.
Iruka was dismantling his entire plan! Mizuki wanted Naruto to pour all of his rage into the scroll, thus freeing the nine tailed fox sealed inside of him. The beast would do his job for him and kill naruto, and here iruka was ruining that plan! He came out of hiding and attacked Naruto with a giant shuriken, intending to end the boy's life.
Then something remarkable or.. unexpected happened, Iruka jumped in front of the boy and shielded him from the weapon, taking the hit instead. Blood began to run down his back, where the shuriken stabbed Iruka as he shielded Naruto.
"I-Iruka sensei, why?! Why protect me if I'm just a demon like Mizuki sensei says?," Naruto asked crying.
Iruka grunted before he spoke to assure Naruto of something.
"Because you're not a monster, Naruto! Look, i know it may be painful and it probably hurts inside you when people say things like Mizuki did just moments ago... But you keep us safe by having the nine tails inside of you rather than have it rampaging out here. Take pride in the fact that you can protect those closest to you.,"Iruka said. " You, yourself are not the demon fox. You're just the jailer for it."
Not far from there, Houjin sensed that something was wrong. He quickly took off towhere he sensed the troubling feeling came from. When he arrived, he saw Mizuki picking on Naruto for some reason and that angered him.
Houjin made a bee line towards Mizuki, grabbed his face and started to pulverize him. He was angry, how dare Mizuki pick on his friend! Mizuki attempted to fight back, but it was no use. Houjin was simply too fast for him to pinpoint where he'd strike.
After bruising him a bit, he let Naruto have some fun. Naruto decided to try out a new technique from the scroll that he had just learned. He formed the hand sign accompanied with it and shouted:
"Wind Style: Storm Bullet Jutsu!"
Several projectiles of air seemingly hit Mizuki at the same time. They were like small punches to his gut and face, and wherever else they landed. Naruto liked it so much that he decided to try out another technique.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Hundreds of Naruto's appeared and surrounded Mizuki, causing him to freeze in place. This caused Naruto to smirk as all of clones converged upon the rogue jonin.
Each of them hit him from every direction and each with the new ability Naruto had learned. After the barrage of blows, He struggled to stand but still looked on with hate in his eyes towards Naruto and Iruka.
Houjin looked towards Iruka and spoke.
"Sensei? Naruto? You wouldn't mind if I just finished what Naruto here started, would ya?," Houjin asked.
Both of the aforementioned ninja's shook their heads.
"Thanks. I'll just make this real quick.," Houjin said.
Houjin continued walking forward and glaring at Mizuki. He didn't know why, but for some reason... this boy was downright frightening.
"What are you going to do, freak of nature?," Mizuki said chuckling.
Naruto and Iruka both slapped their foreheads with their hands. Was this guy an idiot?
"💢💢💢💢 WHY DON'T YOU... TAKE A NAP!!!!," Houjin said angered as he driver punched Mizuki into the ground.
He punched him so hard that it made a bit of a crater. The rogue jonin's eyes were rolled into the back of his head with his leg and arms twitching from the impact of the blow.
"Well now.. I think that should take care of him.," Houjin said dusting his hands off.
Both Naruto and Iruka paled and sweatdropped at this.
"Remind me NOT to make Houjin angry.," Naruto said.
Iruka sweatdropped and nodded.
"Y-yeah agreed.," Iruka said.
The trio had been so caught up in the commotion with Mizuki that they never realized the sun was rising.
Iruka smiled before turning towards Naruto. Houjin, nowing what was about to happen just chuckled and watched.
"Say... Naruto, would you do me a favor and close your eyes for a few moments?," Iruka asked.
Naruto was confused, but did as Iruka instructed.
"Huh? Not sure why you want me to do that, but sure sensei.," Naruto replied.
Naruto giggled, knowing that he was about to get something nice but still having no idea of what he was actually getting.
Iruka carefully replaced the goggles Naruto always wore on his forehead with a headband marked with the leaf village's insignia in the middle of the metal plate on it.
Iruka then spoke once the headband was firmly on Naruto's forehead.
"Alright Naruto, open your eyes now.," Iruka said.
Naruto did so and beamed when he felt what was on his forehead. Iruka continued with a long overdue speech to Naruto.
"I know it's late, but... Congratulations Naruto on graduating from the Leaf Ninja Academy. You're eligible to become a full fledged shinobi now.," Iruka said congratulating the blonde.
"Yosha! I'm going to become Hokage before long now, believe it!" Naruto shouted as he jumped and pumped his fist in the air.
Houjin smirked. He knew that Naruto would be okay now. He turned and took his leave after waving bye towards his friend. He knew that he'd see his blonde haired friend before long. In fact, he was excited at the prospect of seeing what kind of unpredictable shinobi Naruto would become.
End Chapter 1...
Hey guys, Hopefully you enjoyed the first chapter of the rewrite. There will be some changes from the original story but the overall plot will stay the same. There's a few more characters in it this time, so that's one change. As you know the main pairing is Houjin x Hanabi for this story. But what are some of the other pairings you'd like to see? Here's a few polls:
Who should Sakura fall in love with?
I: Sasuke
II: Eleryc (new character)
III: Rock Lee
Possible pairings we could see: vote for which ones you guys like.
Kasumi x Kazuna
Eleryc x Midori/Ino
Sasuke x Sakura
Jinjer x Kiba
Lee x Jinjer
Neji x Ten Ten
Eleryc x Ino
Goku (Black) x Shizune
Naruto x Hinata
Naruto x Sakura
Eleryc x Hinata
There are others that could show up, but these are the immediate ones I thought of. Leave a comment or review of the the story and tell me what you think? Let me know how I can make the story better. Also openings and endings for the story will be revealed next chapter! That's all for now, see you guys in the next chapter!
Next Time, Chapter 2: Team 6 has... Saiyans?!