Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/5501786.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M, Multi
  Fandom:
      Naruto
  Relationship:
      Uchiha_Sasuke/Uzumaki_Naruto, Uchiha_Itachi/Uzumaki_Naruto, Haruno
      Sakura/Uchiha_Sasuke, Deidara/Uchiha_Itachi
  Character:
      Uchiha_Sasuke, Uzumaki_Naruto, Uchiha_Itachi, Uchiha_Madara, Uchiha
      Obito, Haruno_Sakura, Hyuuga_Hinata, Hyuuga_Neji, Haku_(Naruto), Namikaze
      Minato, Umino_Iruka, Jiraiya_(Naruto), Gaara_(Naruto), Sai_(Naruto),
      Orochimaru_(Naruto), Tsunade_(Naruto)
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe, Imperialism, Historical, Harems, Concubines, Drama_&
      Romance, Angst, War, Dark, Murder, Forced_Abortion, Rape/Non-con
      Elements, Mpreg, Slow_Build
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-12-23 Chapters: 1/? Words: 1906
****** The Garden of Decaying Flowers ******
by Theories
Summary
     In Capital of Konoha, ruling center of the Seven Kingdoms, the Chi
     Dynasty has brought upon the golden era. In this prosperous land
     where even the poor can become rich, where the trade market is envied
     throughout the lands and 20 years of peace has reigned, Emperor
     Itachi rules.
     In the village Hidden in the Leafs, however, life is a struggle.
     Fourteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki was just barely scraping by years
     after the death of his mother. Now, he finds himself entering the
     Imperial Palace as a concubine. Beneath the glamour and glitz, and
     the smiles that conceal evil intentions, Naruto finds himself trying
     to navigate a world where friends can become foes and treachery
     awaits at every corner.
Notes
     Allow me to give my sincerest apologies beforehand: I have been
     watching far too many historical dramas (Empress of China, Empress
     Ki) and they had influenced me to write a story based on it. Before
     any questions can be asked, let me say this now: I am trying for some
     form of realism to this story so the characters you once knew and
     loved will be typically different – the greatest difference being
     their hair color. Any hair color that isn’t black, brown, or blonde
     in the Naruto series has been changed to such because I doubt you
     would have seen pink-haired women back in Ancient China (or I could
     be wrong, who knows.) Naruto’s and a few others hair colors will
     remain same (i.e. blonde or red) because they will be of “foreign
     blood” meaning both parents aren't of Asian descent or from Asia.
     Another thing: There is a ranking system even amongst concubines
     which goes like this:
      
     Imperial Consort Rankings:
         * Empress
         * Imperial Concubine
         * Madame
         * Honoured Lady
         * Xiuhwa
         * Xiurong
         * Xiuyi
         * Jieyu
         * Ronghwa
         * Chonghwa
      
     I will provide more information on the duties of each concubine based
     on rank as the story progresses, as well as Naruto’s backstory, how
     the Uchiha family came to be in power and everything in between but
     until then I hope you enjoy this first chapter. Please show some
     support by leaving a comment and kudo. Thank you!
                                       壹
                                        
The air is cold, a biting entity that seeps beneath his skin and into the
bones. His fingers burn blue at the tips, and to fist them brings about an ache
that makes him wince. Around him the land is bare, the towering trees of the
forest stripped of their leaves and left skeletal, the earth frozen beneath
mounds of snow and the river that is only water source of the village Hidden in
the Leafs moves sluggishly downstream. Cupping his hands and bringing them to
his dry lips, Naruto Uzumaki blows warm breath over the numbing digits, rubbing
his hands together to bring some form of feeling back to them before reaching
down to grab the handle of the worn wooden bucket filled to the brim with
water.
                The walk back to the village was a quiet one, though that
itself wasn’t unusual. During the winter the village always falls silent, as if
it was holding its breath; anticipating the arrival of the inevitable along
with its people. Even Naruto himself feels worry deep in his stomach, a
terrible knot that reminds him that he no longer has the protection of age come
time for the new tributes to be chosen. His village, still nestled in the
forest and many miles away from the capital of Konoha, is a wretched,
despondent place. There were no merchant shops or restaurants, the air smelled
of animal and human feces alike, and the homes were hastily put together shacks
that trembled when the wind blew to harshly and the rain falls too heavily. The
people themselves hold a look of despair, of a battle long fought only to be
lost; their skins were caked with layers of dirt and hair a mess of tangles.
When they see Naruto their eyes narrow and flash, their lips draw back to
reveal yellowed teeth as they hiss, “Guàiwù.”
                He feels his cheek flush with his anger, could taste
humiliation on his tongue as he ducks his head to hide behind the curtain of
golden tresses. A thousand paces away from the village was his home, a small,
but sturdy faded building that held only one window. Climbing up the steps and
drawing back the screen door, Naruto steps into his home, breathing in the warm
scent of jasmine tea from early morning and slipping out of his animal skin
boots before closing the door behind him. The wood floor is cold, but not
uncomfortably so because there still a small fire in the stove. Pouring the
bucket of water into a clay vase seated in the corner of the one room home and
placing the lid back on to it with a hint of a smile, the fourteen-year-old boy
makes his way over his bedding. The mattress is thin and stuffed with straw,
but it smells very faintly of his mother and even more strongly of Naruto
himself. Wrapping himself in the threadbare blankets, Naruto glances out window
with frown marring his features.
                Come tomorrow the Emperor’s eunuchs will make their rounds
throughout the Capital and all of its bordering cities, towns and villages.
From each household they will pick a boy or girl who has come of age, examine
their bodies for any deformities and take away those whom they deem worthy of
being a Chonghwa to the Emperor. Naruto has seen it happen time and time again,
and even Masako, the only person in the village who had shown him kindness
after the death of his mother five years before, had been taken to the Imperial
Palace to be a Chonghwa three years ago.
                Naruto didn’t want to be chosen; he didn’t want to leave the
only home he had ever known to become one of hundreds of concubines for a man
he had never seen. But he knew he had not choice; could not escape his fate
because for weeks now he had heard the whispers from the villagers. There were
no more girls or boys of even pleasant features to give to the Emperor, none
who were of age — none except him. He knew that they would offer him to be
tribute when the time came, finally ridding themselves of the monster they
assumed he was.
                Naruto was by no means a fool; he knew what the others thought
of him, what they whispered about when he was and wasn’t around. They called
him a Guàiwù because he didn’t look like them. He did not have possess dark
eyes and hair, his skin was not ashen and burned brown by the sun. He looked to
be of foreign blood — a Western. His hair was a light, golden blonde that pools
to his ankles when free, and skin nearly as white as the snow itself. He had
always been too small, made of delicate bones that could be snapped under the
lightest pressure. Even his facial features, while as soft and pretty as a
dolls, were unusual for on either side of his cheeks there were three scars –
whiskers that made him freakish. The rest of his features – from his small,
button nose to his full lips – came from his mother; but his eyes belonged to
the father he never knew.
                His stomach clenches and Naruto tears his eyes away from the
closed window, no longer able to stand the thought of what was to come in only
a few short hours. Even as he busied himself with gathering fire wood so he
didn’t freeze when night came, his mind continues to spin worrying scenarios of
what life would become for him if (and when) he was chosen. Would he be forced
to bear children? Or would he simply die in the Lotus Palace as a concubine? It
was a worrying prospect to mull over, but he continued to do so even after he
had finished the last of his rations for that week (bread, cheese and dried
pork) and settled himself in for bed.
                Not even for the first time since her death did Naruto wish
that his mother was still alive. He missed her smile, her laughter and how
tightly she would hold onto him whenever she ventured off to the Capital to
trade her old silk garments and jewelry for money; how she would promise him
with each trip to always come home. Until one day she didn’t. Those two weeks
were the longest and most unbearable time of Naruto’s life. The waiting and the
not knowing why she was taking so long, only to find out that she was murdered
by bandits on the way back and found by merchants. They had buried her body and
returned to Naruto the few possessions she had on her person at the time; her
identity tag and the blue crystal necklace that now hangs on Naruto’s neck.
                But she is dead, Naruto thinks as he brings his hands up to
wipe away the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. And she will always be
dead.
                Turning to his side and burrowing himself further into his
blankets, Naruto pinches his eyes shut tightly to keep himself from tears;
tears, he had long ago learned, did not change anything or even made him feel
remotely better. Just tired. Always tired. It would be a long time before he
finally managed to fall asleep, and when Naruto finally does it feels as if he
had been awoken only a few short minutes later despite the fact that a weak ray
of sunlight had managed to peek its way into his home from the window. Naruto
doesn’t rise from his bed for some time, opting to remain where he was and wait
for his fate to come for him instead of the other way around.
                And come it does.
                Three sharp raps are delivered to the doorframe, and he slowly
turns his head to face the screen door that keeps him separate from his
destiny. Another series of knocks come before Naruto finally unravels himself
from his bed and draws his braided hair back into a bun. When he finally
stumbles his way over to the door and slides it open, he is greeted by the
sight of a homely looking woman dressed in pale lilac Chang’ao above a plum
skirt – the uniform of a concubine caretaker. Her dark hair was braided back in
a single loop of a spinster and decorated with golden pins. Besides her stood a
group of eunuchs dressed in the traditional dark crimson uniform of a palace
servant, and in her hand was a golden scroll.
                “May I help you?” Naruto asked, his voice barely audible with
how softly he uttered his words.
                “Naruto Uzumaki,” said the woman with a smile full of teeth.
“You are hereby ordered by the Inner Court of his Majesty, Emperor of the Seven
Kingdoms, to undergo a physical examination to determine your eligibility as a
concubine of rank Chonghwa for his Majesty, Emperor Itachi Uchiha.” She unrolls
the scroll and reads aloud: “Should you pass your examination, you Naruto
Uzumaki, will be transported to the Capital to live in a waiting house for one
fortnight while preparations for your arrival to the Lotus Palace are underway.
Congratulations on being elected as a future concubine for his Majesty, and may
the Old Gods look upon your favorably.”
                Naruto’s mouth dries quickly, and he grips the edge of the
screen door to keep himself from collapsing to his knees. The woman steps away
to allow a eunuch with a long scar running across his nose to come forward. He
sounds uncomfortable when he asked Naruto to strip, averting his eyes as the
young boy did so with trembling fingers. Hot tears burn his vision as the group
of eunuchs and the woman stare down at him while the scarred one measures the
width of his hips — “His hips are bit slender, but wide enough to bear
children,” the woman commented —, his waist and the pinches the soft fat around
his nipples into a mound of flesh. His teeth were examined, and every inch of
him checked for scars or deformities that would eliminate him as a possible
candidate.
                “Those scars on your cheeks,” began the woman in nasally voice,
“how did you receive them?”
                “I – I was born with them, My Lady,” Naruto whispered.
                She snorts quietly into her hand. “It must be the foreign blood
in your veins,” she said, “such a shame. You are very pretty, beautiful even if
not for those scars of yours.”
                In that moment Naruto allows his heart to swell with hope as
the eunuch finishes examining his body. His fingers shake with incoming relief
as she debates with the eunuchs whether he should pass or fail. Fail, please,
please let them say fail,he prays as he redresses.
                “His scars do not disfigure his features, however,” said the
scarred eunuch, “rather, I would say, it makes him unique. You will not see
another concubine with features such as his in the Lotus Palace for many years,
My Lady.”
                The woman stares at Naruto for a moment and he sees the
contempt in her eyes, the simmering hatred that steams from jealously and his
breath is stolen when she smiles. She had seen in the desperation in his eyes,
the hope that fills their depth and she relished in crushing it by saying: “You
are right, Iruka. He would make a beautiful concubine.”
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