Chương 1298: 3
Bloodlines Combined
Naruto stood in the middle of a small crater gazing up at the sky, his eyes looking through the clouds, and setting on a bright and imposing moon. Ever so slowly, the Jinchuuriki's eyes lowered and focused on the former Leaf nin in front of him.
The Uchiha's Sharingan eyes widened in shock at the sight before them. "Impossible… There is no way…." He muttered. "How can he…?" Itachi's eyes gazed directly into the genin's.
The blonde's eyes no longer held their shining sapphire hue. Instead, just like the boy's chakra, they had taken a dramatically darker tone into navy blue. Still, the most surprising and prominent features presented in Naruto's gaze were the three white commas accompanied by a white dot that appeared in both eyes.
"How can he have the Sharingan…?" The Akatsuki member questioned in astonishment.
Snapping out of his trance at the older shinobi's voice, Naruto's mind tried to process what the missing nin's words had meant. "Sharingan… What is he talking about…?" The Jinchuuriki looked at this surroundings and he immediately sensed something was odd. To the young blonde's eyes, it was as if everything around him was in slow motion. Not a singly detail escaped the boy's gaze, from the fluttering leaves to the swaying branches, his eyes were capturing anything and everything.
A couple of feet away Itachi was finally starting to recover from the shock brought about by the new development. "This certainly complicates things…" His Mangekyou narrowing as he reanalyzed the situation. "No matter what, I must act quickly now, otherwise…" The black haired man murmured to himself.
Naruto had already completely forgotten about the missing nin that had being torturing him a few moments ago. Instead, the blonde's eyes gazed around in a new trance. When his eyes finally caught sight of the strangely shaped Sharingan once again, the Jinchuuriki heard the word that had ignited his hell.
"Tsukuyomi…"
Immediately, the sky above the genin started to change. Dread started to seep into the young boy at the idea of spending anymore time that dark and cruel world, but no matter how much he searched his mind, he could not think of a way to stop the genjutsu.
"Kit, your eyes! Send chakra to your eyes now!" A voice thundered inside Naruto's head.
The Jinchuuriki was taken back by the sudden intrusion of his thoughts. "Who are you?" The boy asked. "Why are you in my head?" Despite not getting any answer, the blond decided to worry about it latter and follow the voice's advice nevertheless and channeled chakra towards his eyes.
Suddenly, some sort of flash of light went off in the clearing and Itachi found himself being thrown backwards, his back soon hitting a tree. "What?" The Uchiha's mind raged. "Did the fox do this?" He wondered as he looked at the Leaf nin standing in front of him. "No… Only another Mangekyou could throw off the Tsukuyomi so easily…" The shocked missing nin reasoned.
The new turn of events filled the blond with confidence. Deciding to go into the offensive, Naruto took out a kunai and charged towards the black haired man.
Letting his trained reflexes take control, Itachi immediately took out a kunai of his own and brought it forward to block the incoming attack.
Both blade clashed with each other and sent a small shockwave through their surroundings. Because of his smaller size, Naruto was thrown back by the backlash of the impact, but landed safely on his feet while Itachi simply lost his balance and fell back against the tree again.
"Damn it! My chakra is already running low after using Tsukuyomi…" The former Konoha shinobi thought. "Damn you, Kisame… You were supposed to be here be here, you know how important this is." The Uchiha thought of his partner somewhere in the Land of Waves paying his respects to the grave of an old comrade. Fighting back the growing fatigue, Itachi stood up once more and straightened his cloak. "Well, Naruto-kun, this truly is an unexpected turn of events; you having the Sharingan, I mean." The Uchiha said casually. "To say it has complicated my plans would be an understatement." A small, ominous smirk appeared on the young man's face.
Despite the nonchalant tone of the missing nin's words, the Jinchuuriki could not help but still be unnerved by the cloaked nin's mere presence.
A dark snicker escaped the black haired shinobi at the sight of the blond taken a wary step back. "How about we leave your capture for another day?" The smirk grew as the genin's strange Sharingan widened. "I will see you soon, Naruto-kun…" With those words, Itachi's body turned completely black and dissipated as a group of ravens, leaving a confused and astonish boy behind.
Once he was unable to feel the Uchiha's presence, Naruto let go of a heavy breath and fell into the ground. Looking up at the top of the trees, once again contemplating how the leaves still seemed to be moving at slow motion.
Several minutes passed until the Jinchuuriki jumped back onto his feet and made his way towards the village.
In his first stroke of luck in the whole day, the genin made it back to the gates just as they were about to close them off. The guards pay him no mind and he was careful not to do anything that might attract attention towards himself as he passed by them. Once officially inside the village, the boy jumped on top of a building and started to leap from roof to roof as he tried to organize his chaotic thoughts.
After a couple of minutes of hopping around, Naruto finally stopped. The blond knew that it had not being his teammates who tortured and attacked him inside the world created by the weird genjutsu, but, even though most of what the illusions had seen had being false, at least some of it was true.
The village saw him as nothing more than a demon, a social pariah, a target for all of their hatred. Who knows, after what he had seen earlier in the day, perhaps his teammates would truly react like that if they ever found out what he was, if they found out what dwelled inside of him.
With his current instability, there were only two persons that Naruto still felt he could really trust. Taking a deep breath, the Jinchuuriki turned around and started off towards the Hokage's building to find one of them.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage, sat on his desk glaring at a mountain of paperwork courtesy of the upcoming Chunin Exams. Suddenly, the aged shinobi felt an exceptionally large chakra reading coming straight towards his office at an alarming speed.
Before the Third could leave his seat, the window in one side of the room snapped upon and an orange blur stepped into the room. The village leader would have attacked the intruder immediately were not for the familiar voice whispering "Old Man…"
The Hokage's eyes widened in surprise. "Naruto-kun, is that you? What brings you to my office at this hour?" He questioned, managing to compose himself right away. Upon further observation of the young shinobi, Sarutobi was left speechless at the even bigger surprise that greeted him. "Naruto… Your eyes…" The Third whispered.
A pair of blue and white Sharingan eyes looked from the older Leaf nin onto the floor. "So it is true…" Naruto commented. The Jinchuuriki started to look around the room until he found a small mirror and walked towards it.
The sight that greeted the genin was that of a blond young man with a pair of blue and white Sharingan eyes. The fully developed dojutsu shined with an ominous luster in pools of night blue color.
"Naruto-kun…" The Sandaime's words snapped the spiky haired boy out of his thoughts. "Please, tell me what happened." The older shinobi requested.
The Jinchuuriki spent the next hour telling the Hokage everything that had happened to him on that day, from Team Seven's meeting by the bridge, to his trip out of the village, the encounter with the missing nin Uchiha Itachi, and culminating with him rejecting the Tsukuyomi genjutsu. Everything was laid bear in front of the leader of Konohagakure.
By the end of his tale, Sarutobi looked the oldest that Naruto had ever seen him. The old man's breath was labored and the tears that threatened to spill only complemented his pained expression.
Naruto had to look away. He really did not like to see his Hokage looking so weak and feeble. "But… What I don't understand…" The spiky haired boy started again. "Is how do I have the Sharingan?" He brought into question.
The Third sighed and took a minute to compose himself. "I am truly sorry, Naruto-kun, for I have kept much from you." The seasoned shinobi informed before standing up from his chair and walking towards a drawer. "I never imagined that something like this would happen…" He commented as he searched the drawer until he pulled out a blue folder from it. Sarutobi walked back to his desk and sat down.
The genin quietly waited as the aged man regarded the blue folder for several minutes before the Hokage opened it, took out a photograph, and gave it to him.
Looking down at the picture, a pair of Sharingan eyes widened. It was a picture of a young woman wearing a red variant of the Konoha jounin's uniform, and she was the most beautiful being that the Leaf nin had ever seen. She had alabaster skin that contrasted with her long and dark onyx hair, and a vibrant smile that would light up the darkest and stormiest of days. Naruto didn't know why, but for some reason he could not stop the tears that ran down his face as he gazed at the photo.
"Her name is Uchiha Kagome." Sarutobi's voice cut through the blonde's trance. "She was one of the Leaf's most promising kunoichi." He said with a mix of pride and nostalgia. "Her exploits during the last war earned her the name of the Uchiha's Crimson Raven due to her mastery over the Sharingan and her… Tendency of using crows as a theme for her jutsus, especially genjutsus." The Sandaime seemed lost in a memory. "Yes… She was especially skilled in genjutsu. She could easily fool an entire room filled with member of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clan and no one would ever realize it."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "She… Was…?"
The aged shinobi closed his eyes for a second. "Yes…" He sorrowfully answered. "She died the day the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked after giving birth to her son." Sarutobi's eyes set on the young genin as the boy's widened. "She is your mother, Naruto-kun…" He revealed.
Out of sheer surprised, the younger shinobi had to take a step back. "What do you mean my mother? I'm not an Uchiha! I don't even look like one!" The boy protested as his eyes glared at the Hokage's.
The Sandaime gaze dropped to the floor momentarily before moving up towards the portraits of the previous Hokages. "Yes, you do not look like a member of the Uchiha clan… But that is because you inherited your physical traits from your father, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage." Sarutobi stated.
Naruto's eyes almost doubled in size as they widened. "The Fourth...? Is my father?" He exclaimed, unable to believe what he was hearing.
The Third nodded. "Yes… Few people knew of the relationship between Minato and Kagome, and even less people knew that they were expecting a child." The village leader informed. "After you were born and became an orphan, we thought it would be safer to give you another name. Your parents already had their share of enemies, and the child of an elite Uchiha and a Hokage would not go unnoticed by the shinobi world. So, in order to protect you, you became Uzumaki Naruto." Sarutobi said as guilt hung strongly onto his voice.
"Heheh…" A dull and mirthless laugh escaped the blond. "I always wondered about my parents…" The boy confessed. "I came to think that perhaps I never had any and instead I just sprout right out of the ground." The tears that ran down his cheeks framed his frail and fake smile. "But I guess that I did have parents, even if it was for only an hour or so…"
Sarutobi would not have being surprised if his eyes were crying too. "Yes you did, Naruto-kun." He started. "And both of them loved you with all of their hearts." The aged man assured the young boy. "Kagome put her life on the line to bring you into this world and Minato gave up his to create a seal that would allow the Kyuubi's chakra to flow into you so that it would protect you." The Thrid gave the spiky haired genin a couple of minutes to let his words sink in. "Their last whish was for you to grow up into a strong and healthy man that would be able to accomplish any and all of his dreams. I was planning to tell you all of this once you were ready, and I am sorry I did not realized that you have being for a long time now." The Hokage stressed his apology by given the blond a small bow.
Another smiled formed on the Jinchuuriki's face, and, though small, this one stronger and brighter. Even if he didn't fully show it, the young man was the happiest he had being ever since he became a shinobi. The knowledge of who his parents had being and the fact that he was truly loved by them filled the genin with warmth. Still, somewhere in his joy, something captured boy's attention. "Hold on a second, Old Man." The blond said. "You mentioned that you never expected that I would awaken the Sharingan, why is that?" He questioned.
The Hokage sighed, he knew that that this question was fast approaching. "Well, you see, the Namikaze and Uchiha bloodlines are too dominant. They tend to overpower any other genetic traits that they come in contact with. The idea that the two bloodlines would found a middle ground and compromise with each other was unthinkable." The Third watched as the spiky haired boy brought a hand to his eyes. "So, when I looked at you for the first time and saw that you were the spitting image of your father, I thought that the Namikaze bloodline had won out."
Naruto nodded in acknowledgment at the explanation. "So… This Sharingan is…"
It was the Sandaime's turn to nod. "Prove that I was wrong and that the Uchiha and Namikaze traits somehow found a way to fuse together." Sarutobi stated. "From what you told me, I think that it is safe to infer that, when you started to forcibly drain the Kyuubi of his chakra, it worked as a catalyst that combined the two bloodlines." He explained and waited for the young shinobi to show his understanding. "And I even venture the guess that, after what you said happened when Itachi tried to use his genjutsu a second time, your Sharingan is showing traits of the Magenkyou Sharingan, the next step in the Uchiha dojutsu."
A pensive look took over the Jinchuuriki's features. "Yes… Itachi had it… A weirdly shaped Sharingan." Naruto pointed out.
The Hokage considered his words for a couple of minutes. "Do you eyes feel tired, Naruto-kun?" He asked, realizing that the young genin must have had his dojutsu activated since it was first awakened.
The Jinchuuriki looked at the older shinobi with a confused face. "No, not really…" The boy responded as he shook his head.
"Do me a favor and please concentrate in cutting off the chakra flow to you eyes, Naruto-kun." The Sandaime requested. The village leader watched as the white comas disappeared from the blonde's eyes and the dark blue color reverted to their original sapphire hue.
Naruto blinked several time as the strange slow motion sensation he had being feeling disappeared. Effortlessly shaking off the weird feeling, everything went back to normal for the genin.
Sarutobi waited for the young man to give him a sign that he was ok before starting again. "The Mangekyou Sharingan is a very a very corrosive kekkei genkai. Even after its first use, the casters are left exhausted, drained of most of their chakra, and actually experiencing physical pain. The fact that you can stand there before me shows that your Sharingan should be able to access the Mangekyou's abilities while bypassing its terrible toll."
The young Jinchuuriki was genuinely surprised by the revelation, remembering how the fluttering leaves looked through his Sharingan and his escape from Itachi's second try at the strange genjutsu.
Suddenly, the Hokage stood up from his chair. "I have something for you, Naruto-kun, please wait a moment." He announced as he stepped out of the room, leaving the genin alone in the office.
Naruto collapsed onto one of the chairs in the room. A lot had happened during the last couple of hours and the blond was still letting it sink in. "Some day we're having, don't you think so, Kit?"
At the sound of those words, the Leaf nin jumped out of his chair. "Who are you?" He called out.
"Heheh…" The laughter sounded very close to the spiky haired boy. "Are you so stupid that you already forgotten what that Mizuki bastard told you, Kit?" The voice questioned.
The Jinchuuriki's eyes widened. "The Fox!" He exclaimed. "Since when can you talk to me?" The genin asked astonished.
Another laugh escaped the Bijuu, but it soon turned sour. "Since you severely weakened the seal as you stole most of my chakra." The fox bitterly commented. "Talk about hollowed victories, right, Kit?"
Sapphire eyes narrowed. "What do you mean most of your chakra?" He asked with caution.
"I mean just that, idiot!" Kyuubi exclaimed inside his head, making the young shinobi cringe. "You took almost all of my chakra and now I'm as dangerous as the monster you thought lived by the vegetable products aisle at the market!" The fox exclaimed.
Naruto had to scratch his head at the new revelation. "So… I'm as powerful as you… Umh… Were?"
"Hah!" The sealed Bijuu laughed. "Now, listen here Kit and listen well, you may have possession of my chakra, but there is no way in hell that you can control it as you are now." The fox explained. "You are just as strong as you were this morning, sans despicable dojutsus of course, the only difference right now is that your colossal chakra supply just got larger."
The blond nodded at the Kyuubi's words as he sat down again. "Then where do we stand now, regarding your chakra?"
The once feared entity took a couple of moments to think the question over. "You would still need to learn how to properly tap into it and control it." He informed his host. "And believe me when I said this, it is going to be a hard and painful process… Heheh." The Bijuu added, taking joy at the wince from his jailer. "But don't worry, those damn eyes of yours should help you with it." He added, opting to appease the boy a bit.
"Ok…" Naruto muttered. "But then what's going to happen to you, now that your chakra is gone?"
The dark laugh that the fox let out did not set to well with the blond. "Aww, worry about me, are you?" He teased. "It seems that this is it for me. I will be doomed to spend the rest of my life wandering around in this poor excuse of a mind, watching everything that you do, and pointing out all of your flaws." Kyuubi announced a dumbstruck blond. "Think of me as your brand new conscience."
The Jinchuuriki sighed in frustration through the Bijuu's laugher. "Oh good, I get a new conscious whose idea of a good time is leveling an entire village to the ground…" The boy thought, renewing the laughter for his tenant.
After several minutes passed, Sarutobi reentered the room carrying a couple of scrolls with him. "Well Naruto-kun, since Kakashi seems to have neglected your training, I will be taking over." The Hokage announced, allowing himself a small smile at the look of surprise in the genin's face. "Sadly, I have to deal with some official matters regarding the Chunin Exam, meaning that we will not be able to start your training until at least next week, so I am leaving you some homework until then." The Sandaime added as he placed the scrolls on the table.
Naruto could not help himself and, at the mention of the word homework, his mind flashbacked to his academy days, causing the Jinchuuriki to groan in frustration. Nevertheless, the blond picked up the scroll closes to him and started looking over it.
A small chuckled escaped the Hokage as he separated a group of scrolls from the rest. "The scroll that you are reading, along with these, contain information about couple of jutsus that I thought it would be good for you to learn." He informed before setting aside three other parchments. "While these three regard the Uchiha clan, a bit of its history, fighting style, special jutsus related to the clan, as well as information about the Sharingan."
The spiky haired boy nodded his understanding of the older shinobi's words. Watching over the scrolls presented in front of him, the blonde's eyes set on the small black scroll that the village leader had kept isolated from the others.
"And this last one…" The Third continued as he picked the black scroll. "Contains information on the Mangekyou Sharingan, as well as instruction on how to use its two special jutsus, Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, I am particularly incline for you to learn those two techniques." Sarutobi said as he handed the small scroll to his new student. "I want you to read all of this material during the last couple of days. You do not have to put it to practical use just yet, but I expect for you to know all this information before we start training, am I clear?" He asked.
The Jinchuuriki nodded to accept his task before he started to gather the scrolls and the Hokage moved back to his chair.
Sitting behind his desk once more, the Sandaime regarded the genin. "Now, I want you to consider for a moment before you answer me this question." The experienced shinobi waited until the sapphire orbs fell on him. "You are old enough to decide this for yourself… Do you want me to make your heritage public, Naruto-kun?" He asked.
The boy's eyes fell to the floor as he pondered. After a several minutes in silence, Naruto lifted his gaze back to the Hokage. "No." He said in a determined, but solemn voice.
Accepting the genin's answerd, the Third continued. "And what about Kakashi?" The blond remain pensive for a while before nodding. "How much should I tell him?"
The blond sighed as he considered. "You can tell him about my parents…" He finally answered. "But not about my Sharingan… I… I don't want him to know about it…" The spiky haired boy said as his fist tightened.
"Very well, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said before giving the younger Leaf nin a smile. "That only leaves us with the matter of your Sharingan." He announced.
A confused look was directed towards the village leader. "My Sharingan…?" The genin asked.
Nodding, the Third's smile grew slightly. "Yes. From what you told me, your Sharingan differs from any other of its variants, making it a new dojutsu." The aged man explained. "So, as a new dojutsu, it needs a name."
Naruto was taken back by the announcement for a couple of seconds before he started thinking over it. Gradually, the young man's eyes drifted towards to open window in the office as he contemplated his dojutsu. "Sky…" The Jinchuuriki said before returning his gaze to the Hokage. "Sora Sharingan… Its name is Sora Sharingan." The shinobi declared.
The Hokage nodded and smiled warmly once more. The blond gave his leader a small bow before starting to walk toward the door. Suddenly, the genin stopped on his tracks. "Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi asked with concern.
Sapphire eyes shined brightly as the blond looked back. "No…" He said. "I just wanted to thank you… For everything, Old Geezer…" The spiky haired boy said before giving the older shinobi a true, real smile, before turning around and walking out of the office.
A sigh escaped the Sandaime. "It is good to see that this terrible ordeal was not able to fully break your vibrant spirit, Naruto-kun." The Hokage whispered to himself as he smiled.
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