Time skip to the genin exams-
Naruto stood still and listened to Iruka's words as he spoke to him about what he needed to do to pass.
He quietly went through the handseals of the three techniques he had been asked to do and he watched silently as his teacher handed him his hitai ate. He barely even registered what was happening around him, he could only focus on one thing, the emotions of Mizuki, his secondary sensei. He had always felt the anger Mizuki held towards him throughout the year, but this was just pure unadulterated loathing.
The hate that was being directed towards him was his main focus as he walked silently out the room and past his classmates with his hitai ate in hand. He felt their shocked and annoyed emotions but they weren't the focus, He shoved them to the back of his mind and kept wondering about the anger that he could still feel as he walked past his peer's shocked faces and out to the forest to settle his mind.
Once he reached the trees he took of his shoes and sealed them away, immediately enjoying the feeling of the earth moving beneath his now bare feet. He allowed the vines and plants to sprout underneath his touch and walked along to a hidden section of the forest with beautiful light purple flowers. ( look at the photo above)
He relished in the feeling of walking with the nature surrounding him. The flowers and trees followed his direction as he walked by, some even trying to reach out to him. He knew that Cara, Kaba, and Kuro were probably off doing their own thing and didn't feel like using his sensor if abilities at the moment to find them, right now he just needed to clear his head.
He reached the clearing and appreciated the fact that he was probably the only one other than Cara, Kaba, and Kuro to know about this place. It engulfed you in a sense of utter calmness as soon as you stepped into the area. It was by far one of his favorite places to relax and sort out his mind, or to train his sensory abilities.
He laid down in the clearing and watched with a small smile of his face as the grass and the plants that bloomed under him climbed up his sides in a warm hug, congratulating him on a job well done. He was always appreciative of the plants' kindness to him, even if he sometimes felt that he didn't deserve it.
He closed his eyes and reached into the back of his mind, opening them to find himself standing in yet another forest face to face with the kyuubi no yoko, or better known to him as Kurama.
"Hey kyuu, who do you think my genin team will be?" He asked the large nine tailed fox. Over the years he and the Bijuu had become friends. The fox had said that he had one of the most calming chakras that he had ever felt, and that it brought him peace that he hadn't had in years. At first his mind was a sewer, but he changed the seal a bit so that he could give Kurama his senses and change the landscape into a beautiful forest. He trained with the fox almost nightly, and on some days when he was free he would summon him in a smaller form and work with him during the daylight. He now thought of the fox as an older brother, and they had formed a really close bond.
"I have no idea kit, you would have to ask the hokage for that information. But if I took a guess I would have to say that since you acted as the dead last you are probably going to get placed with the rookie of the year, which is the Uchiha."
Naruto thought about it for a second. He didn't exactly hate Sasuke, he just never got to know the guy, and when he did sit next to him in hopes of possible chatting, which was a big risk considering that his plants could be found out, and he wasn't by the window which irked him slightly, but when he did he would always be shoved out of the seat by the Haruno girl that he faked having a crush on.
"I quest that wouldn't be too bad, as long as I don't get one of the fangirls I think it'll be fine." He said pondering who the last person on his team would be.
He was so lost in thought that when he opened his eyes the sun was going down.
He laid there and let the leaves swirl around him as he watched the sky turn different colors. It was honestly an amazing sight, and he loved watching the colors disappear behind the canopy of trees. But then he suddenly felt a slight tremor through the earth. He focused and he could hear the snapping of twigs and the creaking of branches. He shut his eyes tight and listened, he could feel the ground being pushed beneath someone's feet, it felt like they were running, he heard shallow breaths and the beads of what he could tell was sweat drip into the dirt. And then he felt the same chakra he had felt in his classroom so many times before.
He snapped his eyes open and stood up. He could tell that the sounds were coming about a mile away from him, he just needed to get there, he could tell that Mizuki had done something, and he knew that it couldn't be good.
He ran through the trees, which gladly helped him move faster as they swayed their branches and carried him along. He breathed in deeply and could tell that Mizuki was right in the clearing ahead of him.
He placed his hand on the tree holding him as a sigh of thanks and slid off, landing silently behind the panting figure of Mizuki.
"Ha-ha, good, ha- I think I lost them."
Mizuki said panting as he turned his head around to check. He was shocked when he found that the demon boy from his classroom had found him. But he looked different, his hair was longer and a bit shaggier with bangs on either side of his face (Minato's hairstyle), and his hair had lost its neon glow, instead it had a soft color to it, like a flower, and his face had become much slimmer and lost all of its baby fat. He also wasn't wearing that atrocious jumpsuit. Instead he was wearing a mesh shirt, which showed that he actually had a skinny, somewhat girly figure. Over the mesh shirt he wore a dark high collared coat that was open in the front and went all the way down to the ground. He also wore fitting dark blue pants with a black fabric belt and had a kunai pouch strapped to his right leg above what looked to be three potion bottles, and on his left leg he had a senbon pouch, two scrolls attached to his belt and a bundle of sealing paper and tags attached to his belt as well. He wore his hitai ate around his neck loosely and wasn't wearing shoes. The only way you could tell that it was Naruto was the the whisker marks on each of his cheeks and his striking blue eyes.
Naruto immediately knew what was going on when he saw the scroll of sealing Mizuki was carrying. Mizuki was a traitor, and there was no way in hell that he was letting him go with one of the most important scrolls in the hokage library.
"And who might you have gotten away from Mizuki?" Naruto asked in a voice that could soothe even a raging storm.
"What does it matter to you demon! I should kill you know and do the village a favor by ridding us all of your presence!" Mizuki spat at him.
Naruto sighed, and stared at Mizuki with a piercing but calm gaze. "Mizuki you are stealing the scroll of sealing, may I ask what you are planning on doing with it. ?"
"I'm going to bring this to Orochimaru, and he'll promote me in his ranks so that I can free myself of this wretched village! What right do you have to stop me demon!" Mizuki put as much venom as he could into those words but Naruto didn't even flinch. Instead, Naruto sighed and looked straight into Mizuki's eyes.
Mizuki watched, terrified, as killing intent poured off of the demon child in waves. The grass around Naruto started to grow taller and sway around him as the flowers and trees nearby expanded their stems and branches to hover behind Naruto like an army.
Naruto then made one hand seal and whispered, "Mokuton: Jubaku Eisō." (Wood release: binding nest). The tree branches and other plants shot forward around a frozen Mizuki and wrapped themselves around his frame, trapping him instantly.
Naruto walked calmly over with grace and Mizuki watched the grass and other sprouts grow beneath his touch.
"N-no, t-there's no way you have mokuton! Your a demon! A filthy demo-!" Mizuki shouted but was cut short as Naruto struck two of his fingers against the back of Mizuki's neck, effectively knocking him out.
The plants moved away with the flick of his hand as he thanked them silently and pulled the scroll from Mizuki. He slung him over his shoulder and said goodbye to the plants before he shunshined away silently to the homages office.
He suddenly appeared in front of the hokage's desk and dropped Mizuki to the floor with a thump while placing the scroll on the desk and startling the old man. The wood under his feet gave off a cheerful vibe and little sprigs poked out of the surface of the desk and the floor to welcome him as they brushed against his bare skin.
"Jiji, I found Mizuki trying to steal the scroll of sealing. He said that he was going to bring it to the snake sannin Orochimaru in an attempt to rise up in his ranks. Don't worry I only knocked him out. But make sure that Ibiki gets in a good session, he wasn't exactly nice to me in the academy."
He said smoothly. The hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he took the scroll and put it away into his desk. He summoned the hidden anbu in the room to come and take the traitor to Ibiki, and Naruto watched the scene unfold.
Once the anbu shunshined away, Naruto sighed and allowed the plants to grow around his feet and hands. Hiruzen watched the boy he considered his second grandson smile at the plants that played at his fingertips. Only he and a select few anbu knew about Naruto's ability, and it was getting harder and harder to hide it as he further developed his skill. He had to will the plants not to follow him or grow when he placed his feet down when he was in public, and even then some plants wormed their way through to get to him.
It really was a sight to see when you come across a twelve year old boy that's able to manipulate plants, much less be friends with them. But the plants had helped Naruto grow up feeling love that he wouldn't get otherwise, and for that, Hiruzen was grateful.
Naruto looked up from his playful banter with the leaves and flowers that enjoyed when he came to the office to look at the hokage. He let a smile grace his features and said a farewell to the old man and to the plants before he shunshined to the front of his house in the forest.
The plants in his garden and on his houses walls and floors greeted him as he walked into his home. When he stepped past the door he was immediately met by the happy chirping noises of Cara as Kaba and Kuro sat next to her silently.
"I can't believe you get your teams tomorrow! I'm so excited that we finally get to go with you! I can't wait!" Cara sung out while flittering happily around.
"Yes it really will be nice to finally get to spend the day with you again." Kaba said, while Kuro nodded his head and hissed a yes in agreement.
"Yeah, it'll be great, I just hope my teams nice." Naruto yawned. "Anyways, I better get to sleep, don't forget your hitai ates tomorrow, I don't want you guys to get in trouble. Goodnight."
Naruto said sleepily.
Cara, Kaba, and Kuro had gotten their hitai ates just a couple of days ago. It took the old man some convincing, but he explained that Cara had excellent sensing abilities and would be able to fly to check the surrounding areas, the fact that Kaba was in a sense similar to Kiba's dog akamaru, and that Kuro would be able to hide in the shadows or bushes and keep a lookout, along with being able to use his fangs as small weapons. The hokage gave them their hitai ates and they wore them around their necks. Now they would be able to come with him to training and missions.
He pet the petals and leaves of some of the flowers that had gathered around him on his bed and drifted off into a dreamless sleep with the sounds of the forest still ringing in his mind.
Time skip morning-
Naruto walked into the academy early and made sure that his henge was flawless before he sat in the back corner at the window. He sat there and played with his plants, watching their stems weave around his fingers and the leaves and petals tickle his palm. He took off his shoes as well, and let the softness of the grass that grew with his touch settle under his feet. It brought him complete comfort as he closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the outside world. He opened his eyes and saw Cara on the other side of the window smiling up at him and telling him that his team would accept him when the time came before flying away. He felt the thud of a footstep and asked the plants to go back, which they did reluctantly, and turned his head to where the feeling of polite bright chakra was. He waited and listened to the thunks of shoes against wood and watched as his teacher walked into the classroom. Iruka noticed the orange blob in the back corner almost immediately, and called out a hello, partially shocked that he was there this early, and sat down the go through his papers. Seeing that the teacher was occupied he gave his plants more time to move around, just less noticeably.
Sasuke was first to come through the door, he was shocked that Naruto was here before him, he usually got here first. Naruto only kept one eye open as he silently watched people file in through the door and sit in their seats. They were all slightly taken aback at the fact that he was being silent. He then felt the thundering tremors of the earth underneath him as the two top fangirls of the class came barging through the door and had to suppressed a groan.
He felt bad for the wood that they had stomped on, and conveyed his feeling through the ground, relaxing as soon as he felt that the wood was fine. He glared slightly at the girls that would completely ignore the feelings of the things around them, especially the earth, just because the wood wasn't in the form of a tree doesn't mean that it isn't living.
He listened to the speech that Iruka gave halfheartedly, mostly just listening to the plants and wood instead. Only when he started the teams and call his name did he finally listen.
"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno," oh great, Naruto thought, the fangirl is on my team. "And Sasuke Uchiha. Led by Kakashi Hatake."
At the mention of Sasuke being on her team Sakura jumped up and cheered, screaming 'take that Ino-pig!'. Naruto was at least thankful that there was another sane person on his team, although it did help a lot that they had Kakashi as their sensei, he had been one of the anbu that liked Naruto and actually kept him from harm when he was younger. Not to mention the fact that he was always late to basically everything, which gave him more time with the plants that could be at their training ground.
While he was musing to himself everybody in the class was staring at him like he had gone insane. He hadn't said a single word the entire time, not even an annoyed huff when Sasuke was called to be on his team or a cheer when Sakura was called.
Iruka had finished calling the teams and Naruto was so into his thoughts that he didn't realize that Sasuke was looking at him while Sakura was practically throwing herself on him.
Naruto placed his head down on the desk and felt the familiar comfort of grass cushioning his face as he let his eyes close, he knew that he would be there for a while.
Sasuke and Sakura waited in the class as they watched everybody but them get taken away by their team senseis. Sakura was complaining and trying to get Sasuke's attention while Sasuke was wondering why Naruto was so quiet and where their sensei was.
After about an hour Iruka had left wishing them luck. Another thirty minutes passed when Sasuke suddenly spotted a small bluebird fly through the still open door. But what caught his attention next was Sakura's scream of 'FOX! SNAKE!' He looked down and sure enough strutting through the door right after the little bird was a large fox with brown tipped ears and tail, while next to him was a long black snake. What caught his eye the most though was the shiny material of a hitai ate around their necks. He realized that the bluebird had one as well. He told Sakura to calm down once he realized that they were nin-animals usually assigned to ninja, much like Kiba's dog Akamaru. Sakura and Sasuke silently watched as the animals walked to the back of the class. The bluebird chirped happily and landed next to Naruto's sleeping form. The fox also went and sat down under the desk that the bluebird had perched itself upon, and the snake curled around Naruto's neck and laid its head on his arm. The bird was now happily bouncing around and pecking at the bright yellow hair. After a couple of pecks Naruto stirred and made a small chirp noise, to which the bird happily responded to with more chirping.
They watched as he cooed to the bird, looked down and yipped at the fox, who greeted him back with a low rumbling noise, and then rubbed his cheek against the snakes head. Naruto settled his head back down on the desk and the bird hopped over and cuddled into the crook of his shoulder and neck, burrowing into the material of his orange outfit.
Sasuke stared before realizing that Naruto had fallen back asleep and decided to do the same, resting his head on his arms and closing his eyes.
Time skip-
Naruto stirred as he felt a familiar chakra approaching. He knew that it was Kakashi coming to the door, and relaxed slightly as he felt the push of the plants under him telling him to sit up.
He sat up and nuzzled Cara, who was resting by his neck, and looked at his other two teammates. Sasuke was trying to avoid looking at Sakura as she asked him to go out with her. He shook his head silently at how this would go. The Uchiha would be fine considering he can learn pretty fast, but Haruno he wasn't so sure about, he was pretty sure that she would endanger a mission if Sasuke got into any sort of trouble during it, and she didn't seem to be physically fit, along with the fact that she blatantly hates him.
The door slid open and Kakashi's head popped in as he cheerfully spouted out to meet him on the roof before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Not wanting to reveal too much, Naruto simply put on his shoes, got up, and walked out of the classroom and up the stairs, understanding from the tremors in the ground that his friends and teammates were following him.
He got to the roof and sat down, willing the plants to not come towards him. Kaba settled down next to him, Kuro coiled around Naruto's torso, and Cara woke and decided that she would stay where she was. Kakashi eyed the animals curiously.
Soon the other two joined as well and they were all sitting down on the roof. Kakashi told them to introduce themselves, but he went first.
"My name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes and dislikes are none of your business, I don't feel like telling you my hobbies, and I don't have a dream. You next pinky." He said cheerfully.
Sakura silently fumed at the nickname and began introducing herself, "My name is Sakura Haruno, my likes, or well the person I like... um..." she looked towards Sasuke and squealed. "I dislike Ino-pig and Naruto-baka," she stated, sending Naruto a glare as he whispered sarcastically to himself, "oh no, I'm wounded.", which Kakashi managed to hear and had to stifle back a laugh. "My hobbies are..." she looked at Sasuke and giggled, "and my dream is... well..." she blushed and stared at Sasuke giggling and squealing.
Kakashi's chakra was annoyed as he listened to Sakura's introduction. "Uh, okay, you next raven."
He said, pointing at Sasuke.
Sasuke cleared his throat a little and spoke. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I like training, tomatoes, and uh," he shot a quick glance at Naruto which Kakashi just barely saw, "nothing else really, I dislike fangirls, loud people, and traitors, my hobbies are training, and my dream is none of your concern."
Kakashi felt slightly protective when he saw Sasuke glance at Naruto, but it would be very interesting to see how this played out, besides, he knew that Naruto was skilled enough to take care of himself.
"Okay and lastly whiskers over there."
Naruto brought up his facade again and spoke loudly, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, my likes are ramen, the hokage, and plants, my dislikes are those who cannot differentiate between a kunai and the scroll that holds it, and other things, my hobbies are eating ramen and pranking, and my dream is to become hokage! Dattebayo!"
Sakura glared at him once he finished and went back to fawning over Sasuke. "Oh and I almost forgot." He added, "these are my nin-animals, the bluebird is named Cara, the fox is named Kaba, and the Snake is Kuro."
Kakashi piped up. "Well, now that we all know each other, you must all go to training ground seven tomorrow at 6 in the morning. Oh, and don't eat breakfast, or else you'll puke. Ja ne!" He said before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the rest of the team still sitting on the roof.
AN: Wow okay this chapter is long. 3,847 words is a lot. Anyways I'll start working on a new chapter soon enough. Ja ne!